A 28-year-old South Florida teacher has been accused of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old student.
Phillip Velez, a culinary arts teacher and basketball coach at Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, appeared before a judge on Monday after allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that began in December of 2020.
Students and parents were shocked by the news Monday.
Student Ryan Cakici told WSVN "honestly, I respected him a lot as a teacher. He was pretty cool. He liked all the kids that were his students, and he was kind to me and kind to my classmates, as far as I know. When I heard what happened I was frankly disgusted."
“I have daughters. If anyone were to touch my kid I would lose it," said parent Paula Neher.
According to police, Velez met the student at a fundraiser. The student visited Velez’s classroom before visiting his Hollywood home, where the two had sexual intercourse on several occasions.
The victim’s family had a tracking device on her phone and found her at Velez’s home and called police.
Velez's defense attorney argued that the teen was just two months away from her 18th birthday, telling Broward County Court Judge Joseph Murphy "if your honor takes a look at the PC, you will see that the alleged victim in the case is 17 years old. She is less than 60 days away from being a consenting adult. It is alleged that Mr. Velez is a teacher at Flanagan High and that the alleged victim and Mr. Velez were engaged in a sexual relationship.”
Judge Murphy disagreed, telling the attorney “he was a teacher. He knew how old she was. They participated in the fundraising. This is an educational or a school event."
Velez was charged with three counts of sexual battery on a minor and one count of soliciting and engaging in sexual misconduct by an authority figure.
The judge granted Velez an $85,000 bond that was later posted.