MIAMI (WSVN) - The City of Miami Police Department arrested 29-year-old Eric Bernard Givens after he abused his position of authority when he made inappropriate actions towards minors in an elementary school.
On Friday, Givens was arrested by the City of Miami Police Department officers after detectives found out that he was connected to two separate incidents with underage girls, one of them involving rape. He faced a judge on Monday where he faced several charges, including offenses against students by authority figures, molestation of a child and battery.
The latest occurrence started in March when a 10-year-old girl, who attended Gibson Charter School in Miami, messaged Givens about students failing the third grade. She then started to receive text messages from him about wanting to see her and missing her.
“And we established probable cause through text messages he sent to the victim, stating that he wanted to date her and be with her,” said a detective.
He would eventually send the girl a photo of himself wearing only his boxer briefs.
During an audio and video recorded statement, Givens admitted he was in possession of his cellphone when he was texting the 10-year-old girl, but he defended himself by stating that he believed he was messaging the girl’s mother, despite the girl identifying herself several times while they texted each other.
At the time of his arrest, police said Givens was a coach at Scheck Hillel Community School in Northeast Miami-Dade.
A letter sent to parents, announced Givens’ firing, arrest and read: “Our investigation generated a report of inappropriate communication between the teacher and two high school students.”
In 2021 and 2022, Givens worked at South Miami Senior High.
The former teacher is also being accused of rape after another victim told a school counselor that the 29-year-old raped her back in October of 2018 when she attended Cathedral of St. Mary’s School.
On May 2, the girl stated that she was in her second month of the fifth grade when Givens raped her after the classroom emptied or whenever her mother was late to pick her up. She stated that he pulled her hair in class and grabbed her wrists to the point of bruising. He would continue his inappropriate actions at least seven more times.
In an interview with police, he denied the rape allegations against him and stated he did not know the victim. He continued to provide inconsistent statements and said he only taught the fourth grade at the school but then corrected himself stating he did teach the fifth grade.
The Archdiocese of Miami said it was not aware of the allegations at St. Mary’s until now.
Givens was fired from that school after being accused of sending inappropriate messages to a student.
Police are asking parents to talk to their children about any possible problematic contact they may have had with Givens.
“For us as parents to have our kids, that communication that they can talk to us and give us this information because sometimes the kids are afraid to come forward and say that something like this happened to them. He’s taught at several schools, there has to be more victims and we need those victims to come forward,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
Miami Police are asking for anyone with information to come forward and contact them.
Givens remains in jail without bond.
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