Chattanooga Immigrant Shelter Employee To Face Grand Jury For Sexual Contact With Minor

Photo: Florencia Guadalupe Renderos Morales Photo Credit: Silverdale Detention Center Background: Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Shelter at 1914 Vance Avenue, Chattanooga

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

A grand jury will now hear the criminal case against a former employee of a Chattanooga shelter for unaccompanied alien children (UACs). The employee is accused of sexual contact with a minor.

Florencia Guadalupe Renderos Morales, 22, spent Tuesday in sessions court, charged with kissing a 17-year-old boy who was being housed at the shelter where she was employed. La Casa de Sidney was a shelter run by the Georgia-based Baptiste Group.

The facility came under fire for its housing of unaccompanied migrant children in May and June of last year. The state shut the facility down after claims of child abuse surfaced in July.

The victim, who is now 18, spoke in court on Tuesday. He testified that Morales kissed him multiple times while he was living at the shelter. He alleged that she contacted him even after he had moved from the shelter and claims that the two had sexual relations when he was residing in Alabama.

In March, Morales will also face a charge of sexual battery in Hamilton County court. Two other shelter employees will be in court alongside her; Randi Duarte and Rebeka Perez are charged with similar crimes after being arrested last summer.

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Morales is accused of inappropriate sexual contact with another 16-year-old boy at the facility. He stated that she kissed and touched him multiple times and made him extremely uncomfortable.

She was arrested in Texas in August 2021 and was transported back to Tennessee to face charges in Hamilton County.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com