SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida educator is accused of a creepy crime with a student.
A Felix Varela High School teacher has been arrested after a student said he tried to sexually engage with her during class.
According to police, on Jan. 28th during Spanish class, 40-year-old Andy Barbosa-Morell approached the victim at her desk, leaned down and caressed the victim’s leg right below her knee and asked if she was OK.
She told the police she felt creeped out and ignored him, then said that he stared at her while smiling.
As class went on, she said she eventually put her hand down, and that’s when he grabbed her by the back of the head while gripping his hands in her hair and jerked her head up and back.
According to the police report, Barbosa then placed his lips on the victims ear and whispered softly, “no hable.” Which is Spanish for “don’t talk.”
The victim said once class was over and she was leaving the classroom he yelled out in Spanish, “no hug? Give me a kiss.”
When police confronted Barbosa, he told them he didn’t remember the incident, but never denied doing it.
Students and parents received a message about the incident Wednesday night.
“I was kind of shocked,” one student said.
“My son’s been coming here for the past two years and never had an incident,” one parent said.
7News went by Barbosa’s Southwest Miami-Dade home to get his side, but no one answered the door.
One student said she is familiar with the accused teacher.
“Supposedly, it’s not the first time, so for me, it’s not really shocking,” one student said.
“It’s a little uneasy, makes me feel uneasy because you are concerned as a parent,” one parent said.
“The fact that it keeps happening over and over, and it’s like these teachers aren’t learning and it just put our kids at risk,” one parent said. “The ones you trust to take care of our children are actually letting us down.”
This came to light a day after a Piper High School teacher had been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with a student.
Barbosa has worked at Felix Varela since 2017, and had no history of wrong doing in the district.
He faces charges of child abuse.
The Miami-Dade School said they are deeply troubled by the events that took place and that Barbosa has been immediately removed from the school and will soon be fired.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.