HIALEAH, Fla. – The campus of Hialeah Senior High School was rocked this week by the news of an arrest of one its longtime teachers.
Police arrested 55-year old Misael Gonzalez, of Plantation, on four counts of lewd and lascivious battery and a series of molestation charges following an investigation by Miami-Dade Schools Police.
Gonzalez, who teaches English and English honors classes at the school, was booked into jail late Tuesday.
Noon report:
“It’s crazy because he was a really good teacher. It’s something that you never really would’ve expected from him,” one student, Angelyna Garayta, told Local 10 News Wednesday.
The accusations involve an alleged inappropriate relationship with a teenaged student.
According to an arrest report, the victim is a 10th grade student in Gonzalez’s English class.
The report states that she discussed issues she had been having with her father with her teacher, and the conversations eventually turned romantic in nature, “leading to the defendant touching the victim’s breasts, genitals, genital area, and buttocks.”
“The victim described to detectives how she and the defendant would communicate with each other in person to avoid leaving a trace of their communications on any electronic devices,” the arrest report stated. “The victim stated how the defendant would tell her they were in a boyfriend and girlfriend (romantic) relationship and how they loved one another.”
“Insane, actually insane,” Garayta said. “Like, you never would’ve really expected anything like that. And just to think when he could have done it, the time, how he could have gotten her alone -- you really don’t know.”
According to the report, the teacher and student engaged in sexual acts between September 2024 and February 2025, while the victim was 15 years old.
When she turned 16, they engaged in sexual intercourse, authorities said.
“The victim stated the defendant would meet her at her place of employment, she would get in his gray Tesla where they would talk and kiss,” the report stated. “The victim reported that she and the defendant took pictures together with her cellphone, but the defendant instructed her to delete the images, stating that ‘the ghosts of his past were coming back to haunt him.’”
Police said multiple sexual acts between the two occurred on campus, and the two also skipped school one day and spent the day at the beach together.
According to the arrest report, the school’s school resource officer became aware of the allegations after multiple students began talking to each other about it.
“I would always say that he was a little nicer towards the girls, but it was never anything that I ever saw as bad,” Garayta said. “It was more like he was trying to be a good teacher.”
At the time of his arrest, Gonzalez invoked his right to remain silent without an attorney present, police said.
“Knowing that he was my teacher for this entire year and him being my teacher, it’s just weird to think about that -- that he was a pedophile,” student Sebastian Oicat said.
A detective and Gonzalez’s defense attorney, Teresa Williams, spoke before a judge Wednesday.
“My client has been a dedicated teacher for several decades, and this is the first time there’s been any sort of problem or any type of allegations against my client,” Williams said.
The district reacted to the arrest with a statement that read, in part:
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is disturbed by the unsettling allegations made against this individual. This type of behavior will not be tolerated as it runs contrary to the professional conduct we expect from all employees. The District has initiated employment termination proceedings.”
“Knowing that he’s not on campus anymore makes me feel a lot safer, especially knowing what was happening behind the scenes,” Garayta said.
Gonzalez is a former student of the high school himself who apparently returned years later to teach at his alma matter.
Court records obtained by Local 10 News show Gonzalez is married.
Local 10 News went to his Plantation home, where a man answered the door but declined to comment on the allegations.
As of Wednesday, he is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.