DORAL, Fla. – A high school coach in Florida has been arrested after he reportedly filmed two 16-year-old students performing a sex act in class, then tried to extort one of them into having sex with him, according to reports.
Yuniesky Ramirez-Martinez, who is an athletic coach and also works as a security monitor, was taken into custody Monday on charges that include promoting sexual performance by a child, offenses against students by authority figures, and engaging in a sexual act with a child in custodial authority, NBC 6 reported.
Ramirez-Martinez, 37, approached the 16-year-old students and asked them a lewd question inside Downtown Doral Charter Upper School in suburban Miami on Valentine’s Day, according to the news outlet, citing an arrest affidavit.
He then offered to take them to a private place to “do whatever they want,” which they understood meant engaging in sexual activity, the warrant said.
Ramirez-Martinez allowed the teens entry into a room adjacent to the TV production room. He told the them they could “do it” while he waited in the other room, which has a two-way window.
One of the teens then performed a sexual act on the other while video from the adjacent room showed Ramirez-Martinez recording the teens on his phone through the window, according to the police affidavit.
When the teens finished their tryst, the video showed Ramirez-Martinez approaching the door and giving a thumbs up before giving one of the teens a fist bump, the warrant said.
The following day, Ramirez-Martinez approached one of the teens and told her that he witnessed the sex act, and he wanted the same from her, NBC 6 reported, citing the affidavit.
The teen reportedly emphasized her age (under 18), but he reportedly said he knew and likes minors like her, the warrant said. Although he hounded her, she continued to rebuff his attempts.
However, when he threatened to tell the other teen that they were having sex if she didn’t have sex with him, she reported the series of events to the school. Once they learned of the allegations, they immediately notified the Doral Police Department.
“As a result of their investigation, The Doral Police Department arrested Mr. Yunieski Ramirez who was employed as a part-time security monitor and athletic coach,” the school’s principal said in a statement. “Mr. Ramirez was immediately terminated as an employee with Downtown Doral Charter Upper School and has NOT been on school grounds since the initial report. DDCUS continues to cooperate with all law enforcement authorities and cannot comment further on the investigation.”
Ramirez-Martinez was booked into jail and remained held on $40,000 bond Tuesday, records showed, according to the New York Post.
The coach and security monitor remained in custody Wednesday after an initial court hearing. (WTVJ)
Chief Edwin Lopez of the Doral Police Department referred to Ramirez-Martinez as “extremely dangerous.”
“This is somebody who’s victimizing students, who’s preying on them, taking advantage of students who are in a unique age in their life hormonally, dealing with the pressure of social media, the pressure of different relationships,” he told NBC 6.
He said the criminal defendant was “an authority figure” who was supposed to coach, mentor and “guide these young men and women into the next phase of life.”
Chief Edwin Lopez says Ramirez-Martinez is “extremely dangerous” and is “preying” on students. (WTVJ)
Despite his professional responsibilities, Ramirez-Martinez was “taking advantage of them,” and “for us it gets no worse than that,” Lopez seethed.
Lopez noted that Ramirez-Martinez was recently hired by the school, and that “within his first few weeks on the job, he’s already committing several felonies.”
“So we’re glad to put people like this in jail,” the chief declared.
