A Miami-Dade middle school teacher was arrested after police said he paid a 13-year-old student in exchange for explicit photos.
Mauricio Ruiz, 29, was arrested Friday on a charge of offenses against students by an authority figure, records showed.
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Ruiz is a teacher at Thomas Jefferson K-8 but the alleged incidents happened when he worked at West Miami Middle School, an arrest report said.
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According to the report, a school resource officer at South Miami Middle School had been told by students that the 13-year-old had been involved in a relationship with Ruiz, her former teacher, back in 2021.
During the girl's 6th grade year, Ruiz friend requested and communicated with her through Instagram but things escalated from there, the report said.
"Their relationship escalated to video calls, sending explicit photos, and receiving money via Cashapp in exchange for pictures," the report said.
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The report said Ruiz would request to see her outside her home alone and confessed his love to her, sending her naked pictures of himself.
She said he sent her $50 through Cashapp in return for her pictures, the report said.
The girl said she had feelings for Ruiz but didn't know he was a teacher until he replaced her 6th grade math teacher, the report said.
During class hRuiz would ask her to sit in the back with him so he could tutor her, but while he was sitting next to her he placed his hand on her inner thigh, the report said.
Ruiz was arrested at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and booked into jail. Attorney information wasn't available.
"Miami-Dade County Public Schools is deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations made against this individual," the district said in a statement Monday. "After a thorough investigation by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department and, as per the State Attorney’s Office, the individual was subsequently arrested. Conduct such as the one the employee is accused of will not be tolerated. As such, his employment with the District has been terminated and the individual is precluded from seeking future employment with Miami-Dade County Public Schools."
