Brevard County Social Media Site Editor Found Guilty of False Report of Child Abuse
By WAYNE IVEY, BREVARD SHERIFF // April 3, 2017
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – On March 30, a Brevard County jury found 44-year-old Dana Loyd guilty of the charge of Filing a False Report of Child Abuse, a felony, punishable by up to five years imprisonment in the Florida Department of Corrections.
On April 29, 2015, Brevard County Deputies responded to Quest Elementary School regarding a DCF investigation surrounding allegations of sexual abuse between a father and adolescent daughter.
According to DCF documents, the allegations were reported by an individual claiming to be a substitute teacher, who identified herself as Theresa Smith and alleged that the victim had confided the abuse to her.
The Quest Elementary School staff subsequently verified that the alleged victim did not have a substitute teacher for that date and furthermore, did not have a substitute teacher by that name.
On April 30, 2015, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation surrounding the possibility of a falsely reported child abuse.
As a result of various evidentiary leads, Agents were able to develop a suspect, Dana Loyd, after matching her personal telephone number to the number that was used to report the false allegations to the DCF Hotline.
Additional information was also obtained through published articles in an internet site named “brevardsbestnews.”
It is widely known that the suspect is the “Chief Editor” of the site that published two articles on April 17th and June 24th, 2015, titled, “Please Help Fight for Justice!!!” and “Blood in the Streets?,” which identified the father of the alleged child abuse victim by name, and in the last article, identified both the father and alleged victim by name.
Additionally, it was learned that Loyd was allegedly contacting the father’s employment and other organizations where he was volunteering, advising he was a child molester.
The investigation determined that the allegations of the reported abuse were unsubstantiated.
During the investigation, the agents interviewed Loyd, who confessed that she had in fact called DCF, and that the false allegation and calls to the father’s employer and others, were harassment. An arrest warrant was obtained and Loyd was subsequently arrested.
As a result of the arrest, Loyd was convicted by a jury of her peers and will be sentenced in an upcoming court hearing.
I am extremely proud of everyone involved in the investigation and subsequent prosecution as the investigation, arrest, and conviction sends a very strong message to anyone who falsely reports crimes in our community.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.
Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft. That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.
Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.
Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.
