MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade police officer who was captured on surveillance video beating his 14-year-old daughter at school appeared in court Tuesday, where a judge told him to stay away from his daughter and her mother.
"What happened was that the judge issued a stay-away order between my client, Mr. Rosario, and his ex-wife and his daughter. That is standard in these types of cases whenever there's any type of allegation of abuse or any type of violence or so forth," defense attorney Eric Padron said.
The judge told Officer Raymond Emilio Rosario that he is not to have any contact with his daughter or his ex-wife in person or via phone, text message, email or through a third party.
Rosario surrendered to authorities April 2, two weeks after he was captured on surveillance video hitting his daughter multiple times in the front office of Pinecrest Cove Preparatory Academy.
The video from March 19 shows Rosario walking into the office and placing a belt on the counter.
Police said Rosario told employees to call his daughter to the office after he received a call from her teacher claiming that the girl had been disrespectful.
According to an arrest report, the video shows him striking his daughter in the face, grabbing her by the hair and hitting the back of her legs with a belt as two employees sat aside doing nothing to stop the officer.
Susie Dopico, the principal of Pinecrest Cove Preparatory Academy, didn't explain why the school employees didn't intervene or why one of them appeared to have a smirk on her face. They eventually reported the incident to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Rosario faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm.
"He just wants to resolve this issue as quickly as possible," Padron said.
Rosario has been suspended with pay by the Miami-Dade Police Department.
His next court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13.
