An IT employee of a Miami Lakes school was arrested on molestation and other charges after he had inappropriate contact with multiple students, police said.
Martin Zaretsky, an employee of Bob Graham Education Center, was arrested Monday on seven counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child between 12 and 17 years old and seven counts of offenses against students by authority figures, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
According to the school's official website, Zaretsky works in the information technology department.
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Zaretsky is accused of trying to engage in a romantic relationship with several students and touching them inappropriately and in a lewd manner on several occasions, according to an arrest report.
On multiple occasions, Zaretsky touched the victims on their breast and buttocks areas over their clothes in a lewd and lascivious manner, the report said.
He also texted two of the victims multiple times without parental consent "in an attempt to gain favor and trust with the victims," and would take students out of their classrooms so they could skip class without permission from school administration, the report said.
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In addition, police say Zaretsky would walk victims to his office after school, offer them candy and walk them back to the school gate, where he would hug them in an inappropriate manner, the report said.
He's also accused of making sexual remarks toward the students, telling them, "You look good today," and "You have a curvy body," the report said.
Zaretsky would ask their ages and told them he was younger than their fathers and younger than he seemed, the report said.
Police took Zaretsky into custody on Monday, and he refused to speak with an investigator before he was booked into jail, the report said.
During Zaretsky's appearance in bond court Tuesday, a detective with Miami-Dade County Public Schools Police said they have identified seven victims so far between the ages of 12 and 14.
He was granted a $70,000 bond but ordered to stay away from the school and the alleged victims.
In a statement Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools said they've begun the process of firing Zaretsky, who has been in the school district for 30 years.
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools is deeply disturbed by the troubling allegations made against this individual. Upon learning about this suspected behavior, Miami-Dade Schools Police immediately began their investigation and subsequently made an arrest," the statement said. "This type of comportment will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees. The District has initiated employment termination proceedings, and will ensure the individual is precluded from seeking future employment with the District."
Former students at Bob Graham Education Center said they weren’t surprised after learning of Zaretsky's arrest.
Keily Sanchez said she was on the school's dance team and Zaretsky was always around. At one point, she said, they complained to their coach.
“He would walk into the women's restroom while we were changing, he was always at our dance practices for no apparent reason,” Sanchez said. “It was kind of just one of those finally, I hate that it came to this.”
Danny Garcia said when she was at the school, she knew students who were texting with Zaretsky.
“These were things that seemed normal and felt normal, and they weren't,” Garcia said.
Ashley Gonzalez was also a dancer at the school and said there were rumors about Zaretsky at the time.
“Our parents think we're safe at school, we're never safe anywhere,” Gonzalez said.
The former students believe the school could have stepped in sooner.
“We have to listen to our kids because so many of us back then were communicating to our parents how uncomfortable we felt, our parents were then advocating for us, telling administrators, our coach, and nothing ever happened,” Sanchez said.
“Kids need to know that it's OK to talk,” Gonzalez said.
