Private School Molester Mira Admits Guilt
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Former private school PE director Paul Mira, charged with sexual abuse of two students including a 12-year-old girl, has accepted a plea deal that makes him a sex offender for life, bans him from teaching, but keeps him from prison. The parents of the girls accepted the deal to keep their kids from having to testify.
Mira, 29, worked at Archimedean Middle-Conservatory – Archimedean Upper Conservatory in Miami. While teaching there in 2011, prosecutors say he had sex with a 17 year-old student and a 12-year-old student. He was arrested and charged with 7 different counts.
Originally, attorney Walter Reynoso entered a not guilty plea in both cases and said, "Paul Mira has total confidence in the system," but on February 9th, Mira agreed to change his plea to guilty on lesser charges in both cases.
The plea keeps him from prison, but will have a profound affect on his life.
According to a memo from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office, a plea agreement was offered after parents of both girls accepted the proposal. On February 9th, Mira accepted reduced charges of sexual abuse, no great bodily harm for having sex with the younger student, and 2 counts of unlawful sexual activity with a certain minor for sex with the older student.
Mira was given 10 years probation in that case, and adjudication was withheld in the case involving the 12-year-old, but while he avoided a prison cell, he must surrender his teaching certificate, can never again be in charge of children or have unsupervised contact with children, must accept a curfew, must wear a GPS monitor, and faces up to 40 years in prison if he violates his probation.
He will also be listed with the state as a registered sex offender, and can never have the charges erased from his record.
The close-out memo from the State Attorney's office provided more detail into Mira's relationship with the girls. The older teen apparently begged police not to charge Mira, and claimed Mira loved her.
She also claimed Mira would never have had sex with the younger girl, because he would not have "cheated" on her, and claimed the charges by the younger girl were part of an effort to bring attention to herself.
Prosecutors said they believe the older teen was being manipulated by Mira, who kept in contact with her even as police were hunting for him to serve an arrest warrant.
Parents of the two girls said both have been forced to change schools and seek counseling because of the relationship with Mira.
