Central Florida middle school band director arrested on sex charges

Dietrich Leonardo Vasquez teaches band at Horizon Middle School in Kissimmee

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – An Osceola County middle school band director was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual battery on a teen and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Dietrich Leonardo Vasquez, of Winter Garden, who teaches band at Horizon Middle School in Kissimmee, also faces a charge of public indecent exposure.  According to the Osceola County Jail, the sex battery charge is for a person 24 or older who engages in sexual activity with a person who is 16 or 17, a second-degree felony.

According to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, Vasquez, who turns 35 on Thursday, was found in a vehicle Tuesday night with a 17-year-old boy after deputies received an anonymous complaint.

Deputies went to the Trafalgar Village subdivision in Kissimmee and found Vasquez and the teen partially clothed in the back seat of a vehicle, according to the Sheriff's Office, which said it appeared as if the two were involved in a sex act.

Vasquez told deputies he met the teen when he was a former music student at Horizon Middle School, and they recently began communicating on Facebook, the Sheriff's Office said.

According to deputies, Vasquez said he and the teen agreed to meet, and Vasquez picked him up at his home.  Vasquez also said he purchased alcohol for the boy, according to deputies.  

Vasquez was arrested and booked into the Osceola County Jail. He has since bonded out.

In an email to Local 6, Osceola School District spokeswoman Dana Schafer said:

"As he is a teacher, he is off during the summer.  If he returns when school resumes in August, he will be reassigned during teacher pre-planning to a location with no children (district department) until the outcome of all investigations/court proceedings and a decision on employment has been made."

Vasquez has been with the school district since 2003. Authorities don't believe that there are any other victims.

For the past 10 years, Vasquez has been teaching middle school kids music.

"Well, he was a nice person to everyone in my class," said seventh-grader Bryan Torres. "There was never one student that he hated and there was never another student that he liked more than another student."

Bryan's stepfather said he understands the gravity of the allegations, saying he is in "shock" after hearing about the arrest.

Local 6 tried to talk to Vasquez at his Winter Garden home but no one answered the door.

Osceola County investigators say they do not believe there are other victims in this case.

Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.


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