Southwest Miami-Dade teacher arrested by school police for inappropriate behavior

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – A social studies teacher at a Southwest Miami-Dade high school is accused of having a romantic relationship with a student, which led to his arrest and his dismissal by the school district.

Miami-Dade Schools police arrested Rafael Birriel, 39, a teacher at Coral Reef Senior High School after investigating inappropriate behavior involving a student.

The school district said Birriel had no other issues during his 13 years of tenure with Miami-Dade Public Schools.

The accusation was leveled against Birriel last March when the victim told police that she had been involved with the teacher for a year and that it “got physical once”. The age of the victim is not mentioned on the arrest report.

The victim told police that most of the conversations she had with the teacher were through the Discord messaging app.

The police were able to obtain copies of the chats the two were engaged in. Through the messages, Birriel had tried to persuade the girl to send erotic, naked and racy pictures of herself. A conversation also related to a meeting at the school where Birriel kissed the student and grabbed her buttocks over her clothes after he kissed her.

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During the year, police said that Birriel had told the girl that he loved her, as well as his sexual attraction and intentions towards her.

The school district sent Local 10 News a statement about the allegations.

“This is serious business and not to be taken lightly. Once the allegations were reported, the employee was removed from the school and M-DSPD launched an investigation. As a result of the arrest, the person’s employment is terminated and he is unable to seek future employment with the district. “

Birriel was arrested and released from prison on Monday. He is awaiting trial where he faces 2 crimes for offenses against a student by an authority figure and for illegal computer use.