Mom Reportedly Approved of Teen Son's Affair With Teacher
Florida police charge teacher, 32, with sexual battery of teen student.
May 27, 2009— -- Affairs between teachers and students have become increasingly public, but rarely do they come with a parent's stamp of approval.
The mother of a 15-year-old Florida boy who was allegedly having a sexual relationship with a sixth-grade teacher not only knew of the affair, she reportedly endorsed it.
Police in Hialeah, Fla., arrested Maria Hernandez, 32, Saturday and charged her with sexual battery after the school's principal notified the Department of Children and Families.
According to police, Hernandez and the student met at the Our Lady of Charity School in Hialeah where Hernandez taught sixth grade.
Police made the arrest after Hernandez and the boy returned from a vacation together to Disney World in Orlando. Police said Hernandez admitted to the affair.
Calls to home and cell phones registered to Hernandez's address were not immediately returned.
The Miami Herald reported today that the two had a relationship for months before becoming sexually active in March.
According to the Herald, the mother is a Cuban immigrant who is under investigation for both permitting the affair and allowing Hernandez to take her son to Disney World.
Hernandez has since been fired from Our Lady of Charity, a private religious school.
Principal Xenia Torres told ABC affiliate WPLG that she notifed authorities after rumors of the affair began circulating in the small school last week.
"This is someone that we knew for a long time. It's very out of character," she told WPLG. "It's something that happened off the school premises and not during school hours. At this time, we're just going to go ahead and cooperate with the investigation."
Hernandez, a teacher at the school for four years, has been fired.
"The minute we found out, we took action. We let her go right away. We accepted her resignation right then and there," Torres told WPLG.
Related Stories
ABC News Live