Woman’s child sex abuse disclosure in therapy prompts arrest of ex-charter school teacher in Miami

MIAMI – A woman disclosed during therapy that her social studies teacher groomed her and sexually abused her when she was a high school student at a charter school in Miami, according to police.

The disclosure of the abuse when the victim was 15 to 16 years old prompted The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to send a tip to the Miami Police Department on April 21.

Detectives reported Michael A. Tamayo taught social studies from 2012 to 2017 at the Mater Academy East Charter School in Miami’s Little Havana.

A Miami detective talked to the former Mater Academy East Charter School student on April 23. According to Detective Frances Flores’s statement to request a warrant for Tamayo’s arrest, the victim reported Tamayo “started touching her inappropriately when they went to Italy on a school trip” and “the touching continued when she returned to Miami.”

Tamayo’s former student reported he first befriended her at school before he started to send her text messages and manipulated her with stories about suicidal ideations, alcoholism, and drinking and driving.

Tamayo, who has a checkered past, is facing charges for the alleged sex crimes about 14 years after he left the charter school in Miami. According to Flores, he had already been accused of child sex abuse in Miami.

According to Florida Department of Education records, Tamayo was reprimanded by the state agency in 2017 and put on a two-year probation after a DUI crash involving a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on April 10, 2016.

When Flores requested the warrant earlier this year, his last known address was Falls Church, Virginia. Prosecutors filed the case against him on May 7 and Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Christine Hernandez signed the warrant.

Tamayo was arrested on May 23 in Virginia and his extradition was on Thursday, according to a statement his defense made during his first court appearance on Friday afternoon before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer.

The prosecution asked the judge for pre-trial detention and Glazer granted the request and Tamayo to stay away from the victim after the defense claimed he was willing to move to Miami-Dade with his parents.

According to Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation records, correctional officers held Tamayo on Saturday afternoon without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center since booking him on Thursday night.

Tamayo is facing two counts of sexual battery by a person in a position of custodial authority, lewd or lascivious molestation against a minor between the ages of 12 and 16 years old, and attempted sexual battery by a person in custodial authority.

Court records show Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Laura Cruz is set to preside over Tamayo’s felony case and his arraignment hearing is set for 9:30 a.m., on Monday.

Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editors Joyce Grace Ortega and Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

Video of court appearance