Keys Gate Charter School teacher arrested on two charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor

Keys Gate Charter School teacher Andre Martinez is currently behind bars, held in jail on a $15,000 bond according to the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections.

Andre Martinez was a teacher for several years at the Homestead school, where he was teaching cinematography. Monday, Homestead Police arrested him and charges him with two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor student. While it is uncertain at this time how old the two young girls were when the crimes allegedly occurred, the investigating officers confirmed that they had acted on a tip from a fellow student, possibly one of Martinez’s victims.

The police is now conducting an open investigation in hope of finding additional victims if they exist. The crimes for which Martinez was charged on Monday are said to have started in 2010 and apparently were still ongoing at the time of the arrest.

NBC6 reported on the arrest and interviewed parents of children who attended or are still attending Keys Gate Charter School

Since the arrest was made public, people who have known Martinez expressed their shock from learning about the arrest and the nature of the charges. Michelle Kathlyn Coia commented online that she and Andres “dated when they were in 9th grade” and that she “never would have thought in a million years that I would ever hear of him doing something like this.” She concluded with “…you think you know a person.”

Former and current students of Martinez echoed the same shock, while expressing how much they enjoyed what he brought to the classroom:

Serena Roman wrote “He WAS a teacher, and he happened to by MY teacher back in ’08, and he never did anything then to suggest that he would be capable of doing this. . . . He was a great teacher, and a group of friends and teachers and I personally worked with him on a film project that was very good.”

Zakaryvw Dudezw added “I had him for a teacher last school year, and he is a really good teacher. It is such a shame to see this happen . He was one of the few teachers that actually made the school worth while and not such a drag. Just hearing this is quite shocking, but I am not totally surprised that this happened .”

1D,JB&Austinlover commented the following: “This is a huge shocker! I had this teacher for 4 years since 6th grade. He was one of the best teachers of the school and his class was awesome! He inspired me in photography and my love is photography now. He was one of the few teachers in that school who were not a drag who was fun and not uptight! My head can’t process that one of my teachers did this! He never seemed like someone that would do that, but you never know, anybody who is by your side can be hiding something.”

If you have any information related to this matter, call the Homestead Police Department at 305-224-5436.