A Florida teacher allegedly cajoled an unwitting freshman boy into a short-lived “relationship” that started with a disturbing six-minute-long kiss inside his classroom.
Leroy Wright Jr., a since-fired reading teacher at Miami Jackson Senior High School, was arrested on Friday at the end of a single-day probe into his alleged misconduct with a young male student.
An anonymous tipster emailed the principal of the high school on April 28 claiming that Wright, 46, was “having a relationship” with a student, Local 10 reported.
The principal submitted a report noting the allegations to the M-DCPS Office of Professional Standards on May 7 — which was quickly shared with the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department.
The cops spoke with the original tipster, who pointed them in the direction of the purported victim.
In an interview with the cops, the teenage victim explained that he first met Wright when the reading teacher invited him to join the Freshman Club, which he oversaw, at the beginning of the school year.
The boy was in frequent contact with Wright, who sometimes drove him home. He recounted how matters suddenly escalated on April 29 when he hugged Wright while exiting his classroom.
Wright hugged the boy back and allegedly kissed him on the lips for a staggering six minutes while groping him, according to police.
Wright allegedly kissed and groped the student again on May 1, then groped him for a third time while driving him home on May 4, cops said.
The officers “forensically examined” the victim’s cellphone before nabbing Wright. The findings, if any, weren’t publicly noted.
One of Wright’s stunned neighbors told Local 10 that the teacher, who holds a PhD, was “too educated” for the crimes he allegedly committed.
Even so, police said that Wright waived his Miranda rights and made some kind of unspecified admission to the charges after his arrest.
He was charged with unlawful sexual activity with a specified minor, possessing obscene material depicting a minor, and committing an offense against a student by an authority figure
Wright was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he remains on a $35,000 bond, according to the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department.
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