Florida Teacher Arrested For 'Consensual' Sexual Relationship With Minor Student

A Florida teacher was arrested Monday for allegedly being in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student for the past two years.

The suspect was identified as Valeria Costadoni who worked as the head of the language arts department at Miami Arts Charter School, Miami, Florida. According to a report in ABC-affiliated television station WPLG News, Costadoni was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student around four times at her home, the arrest report said.

Fox News reported the teenager told authorities during questioning the 30-year old Costadoni allegedly performed oral sex on him on “many different occasions” inside a school classroom and that the acts were consensual.

The report further stated both Costadoni and the student, whose identity was being kept under wraps, had sex in Costadoni’s car and at the boy’s home. A report in Miami Herald stated police were aware of the accusations against Costadoni since October, but it was not made clear as to why she was not arrested until Monday. The authorities have also not revealed how they found out about the relationship.

The chief education administrator of Miami Arts Charter School, Alfred de la Rosa, released a statement Monday, saying the school found out about the accusations against Costadoni through media reports. La Rosa also confirmed the school was completely willing to cooperate with the authorities till the investigation was completed.

La Rosa said: "As always, we are committed to doing all we can to maintain student safety and the well-being of our students at all times. The teacher has been removed from the school, and our staff shall be standing by to offer student support, guidance, and counseling as may be necessary," WPLG reported.

The news organization also spoke to several parents, who were disgusted by the news.

One mother said, "I don't care if it's consensual. It's a child. I'm sorry. It doesn't matter. A child is a child, no matter what."

Several students also commented on the news and said they were shocked to hear something like this could happen in their school.

"I don't know what happened — the details, but it is sad to know someone so high up was doing such horrible things," one student said.

Costadoni, who was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, initially refused to speak to the authorities without an attorney present. She moved to Miami in the 1990s, and was a graduate of Miami Coral Park Senior High School. Costadoni has a degree in poetry with a minor in Latin American studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Prior to teaching, she worked in the foreign language department of Johns Hopkins, Heavy.com reported.

She was initially being held on two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child. After appearing at a hearing on Monday, Costadoni was released on $15,000 bond.