Miami-Dade teachers union rep fired after child sex sting arrest

A Miami-Dade teachers union representative was fired after being arrested in a child sex sting that left three men facing charges, including human trafficking involving a minor, a felony punishable by life in prison. The case has put a spotlight on how Miami-Dade schools and the union protect students when adults connected to the district are accused of exploiting minors.

The arrest involved three men, including the union representative, in a Miami-Dade County operation that quickly became a public test of accountability. Human trafficking involving a minor carries the most serious exposure in the case, and the firing added an immediate employment consequence even before the criminal process plays out.

The episode lands in a county that has already seen a string of teacher sex-crime cases. In May, Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials said they had begun the termination process for Leroy Wright. On June 2, another Miami-Dade teacher appeared in bond court and was to be fired over an alleged sexual relationship with a student.

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has also issued releases on arrests of teachers after investigations into sexual relationships with students, underscoring that law enforcement and school officials have treated these cases as public safety matters, not just personnel problems. In July, NBC 6 South Florida reported that Heihachiro Nakashima, 33, an accomplished violinist and band teacher at a Miami-Dade charter school, was arrested on three counts of lewd and lascivious battery by an authority figure. Local 10 reported in another case that a former band teacher faced three felony charges after deputies said he had sexual encounters with a student at his apartment in Kendall.

The pattern goes back further. In 2023, former Miami Palmetto Senior High School teacher Jason Meyers was sentenced to 20 years after being found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a minor by a person in custodial authority.

For Miami-Dade families, the latest union rep arrest raises the same hard questions that have surfaced with each new case: how adults connected to schools are screened, how complaints are reported, and how quickly someone is removed when allegations involve a minor. District officials have shown they can move toward termination when teachers are accused of serious sex crimes; the new case leaves open whether union officials operating around schools face the same level of scrutiny before they are trusted with access and influence.