A now former teacher at a high school in Hollywood headed to jail after federal authorities arrested him in connection with what they described as a sexual affair with a 15-year-old girl who was his student, and he wasn’t the only Hollywood schoolteacher who received a lesson in the law.
7News cameras captured Boris Fernando Bastidas as he walked into jail in Pompano Beach in handcuffs, Thursday afternoon.
The FBI took the 35-year-old suspect into custody at his Coral Springs home earlier in the day.
The suspect’s neighbors were shocked to learn of his arrest.
“It’s appalling, and it’s sad,” said a neighbor.
The 35-year-old later appeared in federal court. He was ordered to be remain in custody until next week.
Bastidas was a teacher at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory, located at 500 E. Chaminade Drive, where he was named Educator of the Year in 2023, when the alleged affair took place.
Bastidas was head of the school’s social studies department. He was also in charge of the after-school club Model U.N., of which the teenage girl was a member.
Investigators added that the suspect was also the teen’s teacher during her freshman year.
Students at Chaminade-Madonna who spoke with 7News were surprised by the alleged affair.
“It’s, like, irresponsible to do. It was very wrong, and I feel like he should have known it was wrong,” said a girl.
“I’m really uncomfortable, because I definitely, like, it makes me feel like there’s someone else,” said a boy.
In a 15-page report by the FBI, it detailed Bastidas’ alleged affair with the student.
Investigators said it began in July of 2023, after the student asked for help on a project. At first they messaged each other on the school’s email account, but they later exchanged emails on their private accounts.
Then they started texting each other, authorities said. The FBI report has records of the text messages and emails between Bastidas and the student.
On one of the exchanges, the report states, Bastidas wrote, “You’re one of the best students I’ve ever had … but you’re not just a student at this point.”
He also wrote, “You’re so naive, it’s adorable.”
In one of the exchanges, he wrote, “I’ll always love you. I need you. “I wanna love you.”
As time went on, investigators said, the teacher and the 15-year-old would get together in public places. He met her at her job last August, the report states, and had oral sex in parking lots in Hollywood and Miramar.
In other exchanges, authorities said, Bastidas wrote the teen, “Kissing you is like a dream. We should kiss all the time.”
He went on to say, “I want to touch your body. I want my body to touch on yours. I wanna [expletive],” and at one point he wrote,” I want to have sex with you.”
According to the FBI, Bastidas and the student had sex while they were in New York for a Model U.N. event in January, and that is why federal authorities became involved.
Investigators said the affair ended on Feb. 5. Sometime that month, the teen’s mother called the FBI to report the alleged relationship.
The head of the school, Dr. Judith Mucheck, released the following statement.
“When we became aware of the allegations, we conducted an investigation and he was terminated immediately.”Dr. Judith Mucheck
Bastidas’ arrest comes a day after Felicia Sharonda Smith, a language arts teacher teacher at Driftwood Middle School in Hollywood, was arrested and charged with molestation of a child between the ages of 12 and 16 and lewd and lascivious conduct.
Smith, 39, is accused of molesting a female student with whom at first, police said, she had a maternal relationship. However, detectives said, it moved to kissing and physical contact that left marks on the child’s body.
The girl’s parents pushed for answers.
“Through further investigation, they were able to identify that it was from kissing, and it did look like a hickey on the student,” said Hollywood Police spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi.
Investigators said the girl admitted she skipped class to spend time in Smith’s classroom during her planning period.
According to the police report, the girl saw Smith as a loyal and faithful mother figure, and that the teacher told her not to tell anyone about their physical encounters in the classroom closet.
“To put someone in that position is never OK where there is a teacher in an authoritative role” said Bettineschi. “Many times, students look up to the teacher.”
Smith remains at the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach as of late Thursday night, though she has posted bond. Broward County Public Schools said she has been reassigned pending the outcome of this case.
Bastidas is facing two federal charges. A pre-detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m., where a magistrate judge will determine whether or not he should be released on bond ahead of his trial.
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Source: wsvn
