A Miami jury returned a $49.3 million verdict against a former high school teacher who raped a 16-year-old student.

Tuesday's verdict against former South Dade High School geometry teacher Bresnniel Jansen Mones came after a damages trial. He was found liable by default. The Miami-Dade County School Board reached a confidential settlement with the victim earlier in the case.

Jansen Mones was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and sentenced in December 2016 to one year in prison and eight years probation.

The civil complaint alleged Jansen Mones took his student's virginity on his desk at school in 2013. The statutory rape conviction came after months of explicit messages and photos, followed by sexual abuse involving oral sex and digital penetration, all on campus during school hours, according to the lawsuit.

The jury's award included $30 million in punitive damages, $19 million for pain and suffering and $269,000 for medical expenses.

The victim was represented by John Elliott Leighton and Max Panoff of Leighton Law in Miami.

“What makes this case important, especially in light of what's going on nationally and the spotlight on sexual abuse and sexual harassment, is that victims have to have their day in court,” Leighton said.

Jansen Mones started grooming his victim by contacting her through the school's messaging system and asking for her cellphone number, Leighton said.

“Eventually he texted her nude photographs of his genitals and asked her to do the same,” the attorney said. “He kept her after class. He started treating her as a teacher's pet; he started touching her hair.”

One day, Jansen Mones locked the door, shut the blinds and forcibly kissed the high school sophomore, Leighton said. The abuse escalated from there.

After the teacher's arrest and dismissal, the other students started treating the victim differently, Leighton said.

The school board transferred her to a new school — where she saw Jansen Mones crossing the street. He lived in the neighborhood and had not yet registered as a sex offender, the attorney said. The student dropped out to be homeschooled and is now pursuing a career as a nurse, but the abuse still haunts her.

“The damage that was done by this man becomes all-encompassing to somebody who has been victimized like this young woman,” Leighton said. “All of her decision-making in life is now colored by what was taken away from her, which is her innocence.”

During discovery, Leighton learned the school board received a previous complaint of inappropriate messages sent by Jansen Mones to another female student. But he was not disciplined, the attorney said. The school board did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

The trial was powerful not just for the victim and her family, but for the community, Leighton said. A number of potential jurors raised their hands to say they had suffered sexual abuse or assault.

“One woman revealed that she was sexually abused several times when she was a child,” he said. “When I asked her who she had told, she said 'Nobody.' I asked her, 'Is this the first time you're telling anybody in your life?' She said, 'Yes.' ”

Leighton said it's not yet clear whether Jansen Mones has assets that can be collected to fulfill the judgment, but “if he does have anything, we'll be there to collect on it — we'll follow him.”

“Instead of her feeling like a victim, now he's the one who's going to have to worry what shoe is going to drop next,” Leighton said.

The case was heard by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Antonio Marin.