HIALEAH, Fla. – A Hialeah school teacher is facing several charges after a student reported to a high school principal that she had been sexually molested since 2009, while in middle school and the abuse continued for four years.
At the end of February, the victim told the principal that Jeanette Valle-Tejada, a reading teacher at Hialeah Senior High School, sexually molested her while the girl was a middle-school student in 2009. The victim said the abuse continued through her high school years.
Valle-Tejada was arrested Friday.
According to the victim, the relationship began when the girl was 14 and ended when she was 18. Investigators said that Valle-Tejada “groomed” the victim acting as a mother figure, providing her with financial assistance. The report also stated that Valle-Tejada “presented herself (to the victim’s) mother as a trustworthy person seeking to help her daughter.”
The girl would visit the teacher’s residence and would sleep overnight on occasion, according to the report. Valle-Tajeda would also take the girl to restaurants and nightclubs.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools, who said the teacher had been employed with the district for 20 years, released a statement Friday.
“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-Tajeda is facing charges of tampering with evidence, luring or enticing a child, and lewd and lascivious behavior.