ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A bus driver in Northeast Florida was arrested for violating Florida Statute 800.101, which prohibits school district employees from soliciting romantic relationships with students, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said.
The arrest followed an investigation by the SJSO’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives, who discovered that Edward Betancur-Zabala, 36, had asked a student to fill out a form requesting her phone number and other personal information.
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After receiving concerning text messages from an unknown number claiming to be an “admirer,” the student reported the incident to her school resource deputy, SJSO said in a post on its social media accounts.
ICAC detectives then assumed the student’s identity. They engaged in text conversations with Betancur-Zabala, during which he expressed a desire to “get to know” the student better and suggested meeting in her neighborhood.
SJSO said in its post that, “The suspect said he wanted to meet the victim and said they ‘won’t talk much,’ asked if there were cameras in her neighborhood, said ‘it’s very dangerous…someone from school can see us’ and added ‘I’ll greet you with a kiss.’”
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Betancur-Zabala was apprehended by law enforcement on Monday night, SJSO body-worn camera video shows. Deputies said he traveled to the student’s neighborhood and sent a picture of where he was parked.
The victim’s prompt action in notifying her school resource deputy is credited with aiding the investigation and preventing further contact.
Authorities urge anyone with information about other potential crimes committed by Betancur-Zabala, or who believes they may be a victim, to contact SJSO at any of the following: Non-emergency 904-824-8304; Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida 1-888-277-8477; or email crimetips@sjso.org.
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