A high school reading teacher in Miami, Florida, allegedly sexually abused a 14-year-old girl for four years, molesting the girl and excusing her from class so they could spend time alone.
Jeanette Barbara Valle-Tejeda, 41, also allegedly gave her victim financial support and signed her out of school without her mother’s permission, CBS Miami reported.
Valle-Tejeda, who has worked at Hialeah High School for 20 years, is now facing multiple charges, including sexual battery on a child.
The victim told the police the abuse began when she was 14 at Henry H. Filer Middle School in 2009 and continued until she turned 18 while she was a student at Westland Hialeah Senior High School.
The victim added there were more students involved in a romantic relationship with the teacher.
Police confirmed there were other victims. Valle-Tejeda is currently being held in jail without bond.
The Miami-Dade School District released a statement regarding Valle-Tejeda on Friday afternoon:
“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 not the only one facing charges for sexually abusing a student recently. A former middle school principal in Louisiana was arrested Wednesday for allegedly having sex with a teenage boy.
And in January, a former Kentucky substitute teacher was arrested for allegedly raping an eighth-grade student she once tutored.