RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested an after-school care teacher for sending inappropriate messages to a student, authorities said.
Marco Suarez Arroyo, 20, sent several inappropriate messages via TikTok to a 13-year-old student between January and February 2023 at BridgePrep Academy of Riverview, the agency said in a news release.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a report of the incident in December after Suarez Arroyo was fired from the school, investigators said.
In the messages, detectives said Suarez Arroyo sent statements to solicit, lure and entice the 13-year-old to “engage in unlawful sexual conduct.”
Suarez Arroyo later confessed to sending the messages, deputies said.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the school for comment.
“The despicable actions of this man are infuriating and disgusting as he sought to prey upon a vulnerable minor, all while holding the trusted position of a teacher,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office does not believe there were any other victims, however, deputies do urge those who believe they are a victim of Suarez Arroyo to contact HCSO at 813-247-8200.