Miami-Dade school employee dies after being arrested on molestation charges

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – An IT employee at a public school in Miami-Dade County has died following his arrest on molestation charges, the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Wednesday.

Thomas Steinkamp, Chief of Investigative Services, confirmed to Local 10 News that Martin Zaretsky, who was from Tamarac, died on Monday. He was 50 years old.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the 8100 block of Northwest 103rd Avenue at 6:22 a.m. Monday and found Zaretsky with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jail records show Zaretsky was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center April 8 on seven counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child and seven counts of offenses against students by authority figures.

According to the school’s website, Zaretsky worked in the IT department at the Bob Graham K-8 Education Center in Miami Lakes.

An arrest report obtained by Local 10 News stated that Zaretsky tried to “engage in a romantic relationship with several students and touched them over the clothes in a lewd manner.”

The report stated that the school employee “intentionally” touched the students on their breast and buttocks areas, over their clothes, against their will and also exchanged text messages with two of the victims on several occasions.

Police said there were also several incidents in which Zaretsky would wait for the victims after school and would walk them to his office and give them candy.

“He then would walk them back to the gate, hug them in a caressing manner and say goodbye,” the report stated.

Police said Zaretsky would also take the students out of their classes, so they could skip class and accompany him walking around the school.

He would also give students their cellphones back if they were taken away by other school administrators, authorities said.

According to the report, on one occasion, he made inappropriate remarks to the victims, telling them, “You look good today” and “You have a curvy body.”

Police said he also asked them their age and told them he was younger than their fathers and younger than he seemed.

According to the report, after being detained, Zaretsky invoked his rights and refused to speak with detectives.

While in court last week, a prosecutor said Zaretsky did a lot more than his job requirements.

“He would go to the cafeteria and take the students out of their classrooms. He went with them on field trips,” the prosecutor stated. “His job was only to fix computers. He was not supposed to be walking kids out after dismissal.”

The school district released a statement last week, saying they would be terminating Zaretsky’s employment.