TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The headmaster of Park Avenue Christian Academy (PACA), in Titusville, has resigned, Channel 9 learned on Wednesday.
Dr. Brian McKinney, who is still listed on the institution’s website as the current headmaster, left his position days after the Council and Park Avenue Baptist Church Elders learned he had hired a registered sex offender to work on school grounds, a spokesperson for PACA told Channel 9.
The school confirmed Mr. Colby R. Ammons, 41, was hired by the school as a contractor in June of 2024, and paid regularly each month to do maintenance work on the football field, a PACA statement stated. “I had personally seen him in the car line, and he was on the playground, and children were present on the playground,” a mother who spoke exclusively with Channel 9, without identifying herself.
Ammons is a registered sex offender in both the national and Florida sex offender registry.
In 2007, he was arrested after engaging in sexual conversations with a police officer who was posing as a 14-year-old. Channel 9 obtained the incident report detailing that conversation.
In 2008, Ammons, who’s also a military veteran, took a plea deal and was sentenced to 60 months of probation.
Another parent, who also wanted to remain anonymous to prevent any retaliation from the school and avoid exposing her child, said she knows the Mr. Ammons, and even confronted Brian McKinney, about it. “He [Dr. McKinney] said, ‘I mean, come on, it’s not even that big of an age difference,” the mother told exclusively Channel 9. “He said, ‘I sat down to listen to his story. He is a reborn Christian man.” Ammons does not have legal restrictions to work or live near children, since his probation is now over.
Orlando Defense Attorney Mark Nejame looked through all the background of this case and explained that the school should still ensure who they have working on campus, regardless of if it’s an employee or a contractor.
“The school assumes the risk. If in fact they knew about it and they didn’t tell the parents about it, parents had no choice on what to do with their child or children that were in the school, the private school,” Nejame said. “If, heaven forbid, that something happened to any of those children, the school should and would face great liability because they were put on notice and they failed to notify the parents.”
In a statement, PACA confirmed they learned about the case back in March of 2025, and said they “Were not aware of any violation of law or circumstances where the welfare of a student was even compromised at the academy,” the statement read. “I told him [Dr. McKinney] my concern was not anymore about the sex offender, it was the fact that he hired him knowing a story and brought him into a school and has been doing this for the past six years,” the parent who met with the headmaster said.
The school, however, only confirmed that Mr. Ammons was working here since 2024 and was regularly paid monthly as a contractor. The headmaster who hired him resigned just days after the incident came to light.
Channel 9 asked the spokesperson if a background check was done prior to Mr. Ammons’ start date at Park Avenue Christian Academy, and if he had been hired directly as an independent contractor or through a third party.
Over the phone, the spokesperson said “we cannot address the other questions beyond the statement we previously shared. The Academy is focused on moving forward with its school community at this time.”
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