A teacher at a Broward County school was arrested after admitting to police he had a sexual relationship with a female student from the same school.
28-year-old Philip Velez, a teacher and assistant basketball coach at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, was taken into custody Sunday morning and charged with three counts of sexual battery on a minor and one count of an authority figure engaging in sexual misconduct with a student.
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According to an arrest report, Velez and the unnamed student began texting after a fundraising event last November and met outside the school several times to talk.
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Velez invited the student to his home in Hollywood last December, according to the report, and the two began a sexual relationship.
The victim told police the two had sex "four or five times" and they each performed additional sexual acts on each other. The two were having sex on Saturday night at Velez's home, located off Van Buren Street, when officers arrived.
Both Velez and the student were taken to police headquarters and questioned.
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In a taped statement, Velez said he considered the teen his "girlfriend" and that he had feelings for her before they began having sex. He told police he knew the victim's age and the two had spoken about the fact "it was wrong to be together" because of it.
Velez was arrested shortly after making the statement and was released on bond late Monday night.
