HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A now former Hialeah schoolteacher was arrested after, police said, three students accused her of sexually molesting them over the past decade.
Forty-one-year-old Jeanette Barbara Valle-Tejeda faces several charges, including offenses against students by authority figures, engaging in a sexual act with a child and multiple counts of lewd and lascivious battery involving a child.
Investigators said three past students came forward and claimed she engaged in sex acts with them at her home and other schools where she taught.
The first alleged victim came forward to a school leader and police in February. She described a graphic and sexually explicit relationship with Valle-Tejeda that started in 2009.
An arrest report states, “The offender groomed Ms. (blank) as a mother figure providing Ms. (blank) financial assistance and other needs. (The victim) visited the subject’s residence several times, sleeping overnight at the residence on several occasions.”
Investigators said the first victim claimed the relationship started while she was attending Henry H. Filer Middle School and continued through her high school years at Westland Hialeah Senior High School.
“The arrest report states, “The investigation revealed that according to Ms. (blank) the relationship began when she was 14 years old and ended at 18. ”
The former student pointed to another alleged victim who told police she and Valle-Tejeda “were involved in a romantic relationship when she was eleven years old. The offender took advantage of the fact Ms. (blank) was constantly disagreeing with her parents and stepped in as a mother figure.”
A report later surfaced of a third victim from Hialeah High School who told investigators, “The offender complimented the (victim’s) legs, touching them on various occasions. The (victim) said she stopped spending time at the offender’s residence, because the offender would become intoxicated.”
No one answered two different doors at Valle-Tejeda’s home after she was arrested.
Valle-Tejeda had been employed with Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 20 years.
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade County Public Schools released a statement that reads, “Miami-Dade County Public Schools is deeply disturbed about the allegations made against this individual. As soon as the claims surfaced last month, the employee was removed from the school setting and Miami-Dade Schools Police launched an investigation. The District will be terminating her employment, and she will be prevented from seeking future work with this school system.”
Valle-Tejeda is being held without bond.
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