NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A 28-year-old social studies teacher at Country Club Middle School faces charges of offenses against students by authority figures.
Mohammed Ahmed, a civics teacher was arrested on Monday at a Miami-Dade Schools facility where he had been working away from children during the investigation.
When investigators searched his phone, they found a photo of the 13-year-old victim. They also said they found several lewd photos of adolescent males saved in his photo album.
He was booked at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and bonded out Tuesday morning.
Ahmed was charged with witness tampering after he contacted the victim to give him a head’s up that they were looking into him and to not mention anything about their relationship.
He was also charged with child abuse without great bodily harm.
Some students believed that the former teacher was involved in some sort of inappropriate relationship with another student.
“We do know that he was always really close with the kid,” said a student. “[Ahmed] was always buying him gifts. On his birthday, he let the student go into his room to play on his Playstation and his VR headset. He was really close with the kid a lot.”
That’s when an investigation began into Ahmed’s relationship with one student in particular, which dated back to 2022.
A lengthy police report detailed interactions, text and social media conversations and other disturbing behaviors allegedly displayed by Ahmed toward the victim.
Detectives accused him of sending the student money and gift cards on several different occasions, having late-night phone calls and video chats with the victim and on one occasion, he took his shirt off in front of the victim and asked the student to touch him.
A birthday card professed his love to the student saying, “I look forward to celebrating a lifetime of birthday with you. I love you so much.”
The report went on to say that Ahmed allowed the student to skip class and stay in his office.
Another student said that Ahmed tried to do him favors.
“He used to buy me homecoming tickets and stuff, but my mom always warned me about him, saying to watch out with him because she didn’t trust him like that,” the student said.
7News spoke to the student’s mother over the phone.
In Spanish, his mother told 7News, “My son told me he [Ahmed] would bring food to his student, and I thought that was strange.” She also added that she “had a bad feeling.”
A former student has come forward with similar allegations dating back to 2018.
7News tried to contact Ahmed with the number he gave police, but it has since been disconnected.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools issued a statement, which reads as follows, “When the administration was alerted of the claims, he was removed from the school setting,” read the statement. “After a thorough investigation by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, this individual was subsequently arrested. The District has initiated employment termination proceedings, and will ensure the individual is precluded from seeking future employment with the District.”
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