ORLANDO, Fla. — A Volusia County man who ran a Sanford business helping families and children with special needs was arrested last week by the FBI on charges of sexually abusing young boys.

James “Jamie” Bernard Grover, 62, of Deltona, ran the Special Needs Advocacy Program (SNAP) at Seminole Town Center Mall in Sanford, according to an FBI press release. Grover provided therapy sessions and other opportunities to children with disabilities and is accused of molesting several children, including one with special needs.

A judge ordered last Thursday that Grover stay in federal custody until his detention hearing Sept. 11 in Orlando.

The FBI said it also believes Grover targeted boys while serving as group director of Autism on the Seas, an international organization that developed cruise vacations for adults and families living with special needs.

The accusations were horrifying to others who work with children with special needs.

Jeanetta Bryant is founder and CEO of Abilities Workshop in Altamonte Springs and mother of a daughter with autism. Her organization’s website says its mission is to enrich, improve and empower the lives of children with autism through community building programs and parental training.

She said she’s concerned incidents like the one allegedly involving Grover will make it harder for parents to trust the services that are supposed to be there to help their children.

“As much as 30% of our population is either nonverbal or partially nonverbal. So we’re always worried about what happens behind closed doors, Bryant said. “Even if the child can communicate, it can be hard to know what they mean by something or how they are processing what happened.

“You have to place so much trust in somebody when you leave your kids alone with them.”

An investigation into Grover began in June when the mother of one victim contacted the Sanford Police Department, according to court records.

The first victim, a volunteer at SNAP who received therapy sessions from Grover, told police he had inappropriately touched him on several occasions, one of which was viewed by his mother who then told Grover to stop, and showing him pornography during a therapy session, records show.

One incident saw Grover take the victim on a cruise and gift him with a razor, which he then used to shave the victim’s genitals, according to records.

The victim’s mother eventually contacted the FBI in July after becoming frustrated that local law enforcement wasn’t moving forward on the case, records show. She also reached out to the mother of a second victim, who contacted the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, and informed the FBI about a third victim.

The second victim, another volunteer at SNAP, told police he would sometimes spend the night at Grover’s home and the man performed oral sex on him there, according to records. He also said Grover had inappropriately touched him during the night while taking him on a cruise where the man had pushed their beds together, records show.

He said Grover had threatened him that no one would believe him if he came forward, causing the victim to believe he would end up in a random foster home if he said anything, according to records.

Records also show that police spoke to a third victim who has special needs and said Grover inappropriately touched him at the SNAP office.

The FBI searched Grover’s business and home and found pornography. Grover was arrested on federal child sex abuse charges.

The agency believes Grover targeted young boys between 2010 and the present while working at SNAP and the cruise organization.

The FBI asks anyone who believes they have been victimized or has minor dependents who may have been to fill out the form found here. All responses are voluntary but may be useful in the investigation. All identities of victims will remain confidential.

Staff writer Michael Cuglietta contributed to this report.

© 2024 Orlando Sentinel
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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