Paul Urquiza walked out of jail on Wednesday evening in Miami-Dade County. A man used a jacket to help cover the 32-year-old teacher’s head as reporters followed him with questions about his relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
Urquiza has been a teacher for Miami-Dade County Public Schools since 2017. Most recently, he was teaching mathematics to Miami Beach Senior High School students. The girl wasn’t his student.
“Send nudes by order of King Paul,” he wrote the girl, according to the arrest report.
Urquiza connected with the girl from England on Reddit, and about a week later he told her he loved her, police said. The girl said Urquiza helped her with her homework and read Harry Potter aloud to her, police said. She knew he would ignore her if she didn’t send the nude pictures, police said.
“We see a lot of 13-16-year-olds on Reddit being horny,” Urquiza wrote her in a message, according to the arrest form.
He offered to fly the girl to Miami or to Spain, so they could meet, police said. The girl accidentally sent a sexually explicit photo to her mother on July 23, 2021, police said. She reported him to police in Hampshire, England.
Interpol referred the case to the Miami-Dade Police Department last year. Detectives had a search warrant when they arrived at his apartment shortly after 5:30 a.m., Wednesday, near North Beach. They questioned him at the US Secret Service Miami Field Office.
Urquiza confessed, police said.
“I probably should have stopped,” Urquiza said, according to police.
Corrections officers booked him at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. The school district announced his employment termination proceedings began shortly after and he won’t be allowed to work for the district again.
Urquiza is facing four-felony charges: Possession of images of sexual performance by a child, computer services certain uses prohibited by a child, electronic transmission harmful to minors, and unlawful use of a communications device.
Interim Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez released a statement about the case.
“There is no room in society for child pornography and we will continue to educate our youth on the dangers surrounding them.”
Read the arrest form’s narrative:
Paul Urquiza
Continue reading...
Urquiza has been a teacher for Miami-Dade County Public Schools since 2017. Most recently, he was teaching mathematics to Miami Beach Senior High School students. The girl wasn’t his student.
“Send nudes by order of King Paul,” he wrote the girl, according to the arrest report.
Urquiza connected with the girl from England on Reddit, and about a week later he told her he loved her, police said. The girl said Urquiza helped her with her homework and read Harry Potter aloud to her, police said. She knew he would ignore her if she didn’t send the nude pictures, police said.
“We see a lot of 13-16-year-olds on Reddit being horny,” Urquiza wrote her in a message, according to the arrest form.
He offered to fly the girl to Miami or to Spain, so they could meet, police said. The girl accidentally sent a sexually explicit photo to her mother on July 23, 2021, police said. She reported him to police in Hampshire, England.
Interpol referred the case to the Miami-Dade Police Department last year. Detectives had a search warrant when they arrived at his apartment shortly after 5:30 a.m., Wednesday, near North Beach. They questioned him at the US Secret Service Miami Field Office.
Urquiza confessed, police said.
“I probably should have stopped,” Urquiza said, according to police.
Corrections officers booked him at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. The school district announced his employment termination proceedings began shortly after and he won’t be allowed to work for the district again.
Urquiza is facing four-felony charges: Possession of images of sexual performance by a child, computer services certain uses prohibited by a child, electronic transmission harmful to minors, and unlawful use of a communications device.
Interim Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez released a statement about the case.
“There is no room in society for child pornography and we will continue to educate our youth on the dangers surrounding them.”
Read the arrest form’s narrative:
Paul Urquiza
Continue reading...
