Teacher at a Jewish school in Miami Gardens touched students inappropriately, police say

Carli Teproff
·2 min read

A teacher at a private Jewish school in Miami Gardens is behind bars after two students told police he touched them inappropriately, according to a police report.

Yosef Benita, 33, was being held Thursday in Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with no bond. He faces four counts of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under 12.

Benita has been employed part time by the Lubavitch Educational Center, 17330 NW Seventh Ave. in Miami Gardens, since 2017, the school said. The Fort Lauderdale man worked as a tutor in the private Jewish school’s Resource Room, where students receive individual help.

“We received an allegation of inappropriate behavior by a staff member and immediately reported to the Department of Children and Families, and suspended the individual pending the outcome of the investigation,” the school said in a statement. “We are working with the authorities and are confident in the process. There is absolutely nothing more important than our students’ physical and emotional safety and well being.”

Dustin Tischler, an attorney representing Benita, said Thursday that “it is important that the public not rush to judgment before all of the facts are presented in a court of law.“

“We are confident that Rabbi Benita did nothing inappropriate and will ultimately be cleared of these charges,” Tischler said in a statement.

According to the police report, a young boy told his father March 14 that Benita had touched his penis over his clothes three separate times. The boy had asked Benita to stop touching him, police said.

While investigating the incident, a 10-year-old boy came forward and told authorities that Benita also touched him, according to the report. The boy noted that Benita was his tutor in the Resource Center.

Benita showed up at the Miami Gardens police station Wednesday to turn himself in, police said. He refused to speak to officers.

“Before voluntarily turning himself into custody to defend against these allegations, Rabbi Benita submitted to a polygraph examination and was found by an expert to be truthful in his steadfast denials of inappropriate conduct,” Tischler added. “The defense is also aware of additional evidence that will be presented to the prosecution and help shed light on the fact that Rabbi Benita is innocent.”