MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County inmate records show a former 62-year-old school autism specialist was behind bars Wednesday morning at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Instagram alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Robert Lee Turner in May after finding images depicting child sex abuse.
The victims were between 6 to 12 years old.
Police officers raided Turner’s house at about 5:15 a.m., Tuesday in Miami-Dade’s Three Lakes neighborhood. Jackson South Medical Center treated him for injuries he suffered during the arrest.
Correctional officers booked Turner on Tuesday, on eight charges: Seven felonies and a misdemeanor.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools announced Turner started to work for the school district in 2017 and was terminated on Tuesday. His title was school psychologist/autism specialist.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer set Turner’s bond at $28,000 and ordered house arrest with a GPS monitor. Court records show Turner’s defense filed his written plea of not guilty and his demand for a jury trial soon after.
Turner is facing five counts of possession of material that shows performance by a child, two counts of promoting material that shows sexual performance by a child, and one count of resisting an officer without violence to his person.
The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office worked on the case. County Circuit Judge Cristina Miranda was presiding over the case. Assistant State Attorney Stewart G. Hedrick was prosecuting the case.