New Sexual Abuse Allegations Surface Against Ex-Miami Shores Charter School Athletics Director

New sexual-abuse allegations have surfaced against a former athletics director at a public charter school for grades 6-12 located on the Barry University campus in Miami Shores.

In December of 2023, Miami Shores police arrested 33-year-old Jose Glen Rodriguez-Vazquez on a felony charge of offenses against students by authority figures. Administrators at Doctors Charter School of Miami Shores promptly fired him.

Police shared scant details about the arrest, saying investigators had become aware of "suspicious activity" involving the athletics director and an underage female student who was not enrolled in any of his classes. Surveillance video showed the student going to Rodriguez-Vazquez's office when she should have been in class, and the student reportedly told police she'd engaged in "sexual conversations" with Rodriguez-Vazquez but refused to elaborate.

Now, more than a year later, the victim is suing the charter school, Rodriguez-Vasquez, and the Miami-Dade County School Board, accusing the former athletics teacher of meeting, "grooming," and sexually abusing the then-17-year-old student (identified in the suit as Jane Doe) on school property between December 2022 and November 2023.

Filed last month in Miami-Dade circuit court, the suit (attached to the bottom of this story) accuses the school and school board of turning a blind eye to the nearly yearlong abuse, claiming that many of the sex acts took place at the school during "normal business hours" when neither Rodriguez-Vasquez nor the student was being properly supervised.

West Palm Beach-based attorney Andrea Lewis, who is representing the plaintiff, calls the allegations against the school and its ex-athletic director "deeply troubling," noting that they "have shaken the entire community."

"Schools should be a safe place where children can learn and grow without fear of being preyed upon by a member of school leadership," Lewis writes in a statement to New Times. "We are hoping that Doctors Charter School will make the necessary changes to school policies, training, and/or supervision on campus to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."

An attorney representing the charter school and school board did not respond to New Times' request for comment. Additionally, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade County School Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit comes several months after prosecutors filed a new criminal charge against the defendant.

Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office (SAO) spokesperson Ed Griffith confirms to New Times that Rodriguez-Vazquez was previously charged with offenses against students by authority figures, but the SAO added a new felony charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor in May 2024.

The SAO confirms that "new information" led to the latest felony charge, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. (New Times has filed a public records request for court documents pertaining to the new charge.)

Rodriguez-Vazquez is awaiting trial on both criminal charges.

According to the lawsuit, Rodriguez-Vazquez was hired by the school in 2020 and worked as the athletic director of its physical education department, including overseeing the swimming team. He allegedly met the victim when she was 15 and a member of the swim team.

The suit alleges that even though administrators reprimanded Rodriguez-Vazquez on several occasions for having his office door shut while spending time with students, they still allowed him to bring underage female students (including the victim) to his classroom throughout the school day and spend time alone with them.

The lawsuit alleges that although teachers and administrators were aware of Rodriguez-Vazquez's behavior, they "decided to stick their heads in the sand."

For instance, the suit claims, several teachers knew Rodriguez-Vazquez was liking "every post" on the plaintiff's Instagram account. It also alleges that administrators once caught the teacher covering the lens of a surveillance camera near his office while he was with the victim but "never took appropriate action to investigate why he was covering the camera."

"[The school board and school] knew or should have known that [Rodriguez-Vazquez] was not fit for service as a high school teacher and that he never should have been permitted to be around minor students," the lawsuit alleges. "[He] had a clear and undeniable history of abusing his position of power to victimize children and to engage in highly inappropriate relationships with children."

The lawsuit seeks damages against Rodriguez-Vazquez and a jury trial.

A hearing in Rodriguez-Vazquez's criminal case is scheduled for January 13, 2025.