A John I. Smith K-8 Center teacher who was charged with having an inappropriate relationship and sex with a 15-year-old former student of hers told a Doral detective she was pregnant, said Rey Valdes, a Doral spokesman.
She was also released from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Saturday morning after submitting bond. She did not tell detectives how many months she was pregnant or who the father is, Valdes said.
Doral police and Miami-Dade School Board police have been investigating the allegations against Heiry Calvi, 41, since March. Calvi becomes the third teacher in Miami-Dade County arrested for similar charges this month.
She was put in cuffs on Thursday and charged with lewd and lascivious battery; electronic transmission harmful to minors; unlawful use of a communications device; child neglect; offenses against students by authority figures; contributing to delinquency and possession of a firearm on school property.
Authorities were first told of Calvi’s relationship with the student in March, an arrest report read. The allegations were reported to J.C. Bermudez Sr. High School after a student showed others a video of him and Calvi having sex, police say.
“A child does not have the legal authority to give consent even though the child may say ‘this is OK,’’’ said Valdes. “The responsibility is on the adult.”
According to arrest reports, a search of the student’s phone revealed nude pictures of Calvi and the student, a WhatsApp message thread where the two texted each other “I love you” and other romantic expressions, Calvi’s credit card being used for the student and an audio recording of the student telling an unknown person to deny knowing about his relationship with Calvi.
Police also say the two had been together at several places outside of school, such as Miami Beach.
Calvi had been the student’s former teacher at John I. Smith K-8 Center, which shares the same campus as J.C. Bermudez High.
“You should trust your children, but as parents you should always be cognizant of what your kids are doing and who they are hanging out with,” Valdes said.
Calvi has worked for the Miami-Dade school district since 2001 and has been at John I. Smith since 2005. During her years with MDCPS, the district says she has no history of discipline.
The school district released a statement on Calvi’s arrest:
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is disturbed by today’s arrest involving inappropriate employee behavior. When the District was apprised of these allegations in March, the employee was immediately reassigned to a non-school site location. The District will begin employment termination proceedings and will ensure the individual is prevented from seeking future employment with this school system. M-DCPS will continue to review its employee trainings to ensure that our workforce is fully aware of the District’s professional expectations of them and their ethical obligation to safeguard children.”
Calvi’s bond on the charges totaled $39,000, according to Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation records.
Calvi’s arrest is the latest in a series of similar events involving teachers in Miami-Dade being accused of inappropriate relationships with students.
On Monday, Brittiny Lopez-Murray, a 31-year-old drama teacher at Hialeah Middle School, was arrested after police said a 14-year-old boy admitted the two had engaged in sex acts over months. She had been named “rookie teacher of the year” in 2017 by the school.
Robert Ortiz, a former teacher at three schools in Miami-Dade, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison last week after authorities say he had a 600 photo and video child pornography collection.
Daniel Fernandez, an art teacher at Doral charter school, was arrested after police say he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old student during the 2020 school year.
On Oct. 1, a federal jury ordered the Miami-Dade School Board to pay $6 million to a former student of Jason Edward Meyers, an ex-Palmetto High teacher, accused of harassing and sexually abusing a string of female students.
Credit: Yahoo News