Broward educator accused of repeated sexual abuse in multiple cases
Eliezer Santana, 77, is accused of abusing a 15-year-old more than 20 times in Broward, as similar school-sex cases surfaced in Miami-Dade.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Eliezer Santana, 77, of Coconut Creek, after investigators accused the former JROTC instructor of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old student more than 20 times in Miramar, Davie and Pembroke Pines.
Santana met the girl in 2004 while he was working as a JROTC teacher at an undisclosed school in Miramar. The abuse continued from 2004 to 2005, with incidents inside the JROTC office and at Broward locations across the county. The school name was redacted in the arrest report.
The victim said Santana groomed her by telling her how beautiful she looked and that she deserved someone who would care for her. He sat close to her in the Miramar office until he became aroused, then rubbed her thighs and shoulders while touching his penis over his clothing. The victim also said she had sex with Santana on more than one occasion in the office when no one else was present, and that the abuse continued at an apartment complex parking lot in Sherman Circle in Miramar, including one incident in the back seat of a van.
Investigators interviewed a former coworker who saw the student in Santana’s office with the door closed but did not witness sexual conduct. Another witness filed a formal complaint with the school principal during the same period, saying Santana was speaking inappropriately to another student and grooming her.
The Santana arrest comes after several other Broward cases involving educators. Basil Farrington, 47, a Broward County Public Schools employee, was arrested in August 2025 on six child sexual battery charges and bonded out of Broward County jail on Aug. 27, 2025 without speaking. A former Boyd Anderson High teacher was also arrested in August 2025 on allegations of sex battery involving a student. After one of those cases, Broward County Public Schools said it was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations.
Miami-Dade County has seen similar accusations this summer. Heihachiro Nakashima, 33, a former Palm Glades Preparatory Academy band teacher, was arrested July 15, 2026 on three counts of lewd and lascivious battery by an authority figure in connection with sexual encounters with a student. Another Miami-Dade teacher was accused June 1, 2026 of a sexual relationship with a student that lasted about a year.
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