Teacher and former Miami-Dade prosecutor resigns after soliciting prostitution charge

Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
·2 min read

A high school teacher and former Miami-Dade prosecutor on Thursday resigned after officials learned he was arrested last week and accused of soliciting prostitution from undercover officers in Miami.

David Benjamin was a humanities teacher at Miami Country Day School, a private school in Miami Shores, Paula Montoya, a spokeswoman for the school, told the Herald in an email Thursday afternoon.

“Immediately upon learning of this information, we placed Mr. Benjamin on administrative leave. Mr. Benjamin subsequently submitted his resignation from the school today,” she said.

After students went home Thursday, the school broke the news to parents via email.

“This matter was not a student-adult boundary issue and it occurred outside of school,” Mariandl Hufford, president and head of school, informed them.

Benjamin, who was an assistant state attorney with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office from 2005 to 2011, was driving a white Lexus when he approached two undercover officers last Thursday night, according to a police report. Police said they were conducting an operation close to midnight at the corner of Southwest 44th Avenue and 8th Street — an area known for prostitution.

The 41-year-old man who lives in Miami Shores had a brief conversation with the undercover officers through the front passenger window of the car, the report reveals. One officer works for the city of Miami; the other for Coral Gables.

“How much” for oral sex? Benjamin asked one of the undercover officers, according to the report. After the undercover officer said the price was $30, police say Benjamin agreed to pay.

The undercover officer instructed Benjamin to move his Lexus and told him they had a room at a nearby motel. Benjamin was arrested in his car shortly after.

His attorney Jimmy DeMiles declined to comment on Thursday.

Benjamin’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15, court records show.

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