MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Further update and correction: Last December we told you about a Miami middle school teacher named Mauricio Alexander Ruiz whom police arrested for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student. In that report we mistakenly showed a mugshot and bond court video of another man who was arrested the same day on an unrelated misdemeanor battery charge. The mugshot and bond court video we inadvertently showed is of Mauricio Andres Ruiz who had no connection to the other Ruiz and whose own battery charge was dropped shortly afterward. We apologize for the error.
A Miami-Dade County middle school teacher was arrested last week on a charge of offenses against a student by an authority figure, Local 10 News learned Monday.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, Mauricio Alexander Ruiz, 29, of Miami, was arrested Friday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, located at 525 NW 147th St., where he works.
Miami-Dade Schools Police said they learned about the alleged interactions between Ruiz and the student on Dec. 4 when students informed a school resource officer at South Miami Middle School that the victim, a 13-year-old female student, had been involved in a “relationship” with a teacher while she attended West Miami Middle School.
According to the report, Ruiz friend requested the victim on Instagram in 2021 while she was in the sixth grade and their interactions escalated to video calls, sending explicit photos and sending the victim money via Cash App in exchange for her photos.
Police said the victim told them she “had feelings” for Ruiz and claimed that she didn’t know he was a teacher until he replaced her sixth grade math teacher.
According to the report, the girl said Ruiz repeatedly asked her to meet him outside her home and would send her photos of his genitals and ask for naked photos of her.
She said he sent her $50 via Cash App in exchange for the photos and provided the Cash App receipt to police, authorities said.
Police said she also claimed that Ruiz would ask her to sit in the back of his math class so he could “tutor” her and, while sitting next to her, would place his hand on her inner thigh.
According to the report, Ruiz was taken into custody Friday morning at the school where he is currently employed.
Police said he acknowledged being a former math teacher at the school where the victim attended, but it’s unclear whether he admitted to anything else.
Ruiz was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, but has since bonded out of jail.
On Monday, Local 10 News’ Layron Livingston went to Ruiz’s home.
He did not make a statement, other than saying he was innocent until proven guilty.
The school district released the following statement Monday: “Miami-Dade County Public Schools is deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations made against this individual. 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.”