Ex-teacher on house arrest in molest case
Music instructor was arrested after mother’s complaint.
A former music teacher once crowned “Teacher of the Week” at a private school is expected to be released from the Palm Beach County Jail soon, after a judge set his bail at $50,000 in a case where he is accused of molesting an 8-year-old student.
Circuit Judge Glenn Kelly on Monday also ruled that Terrence Gervin Dwarika will have to remain on house arrest until he goes to trial. Dwarika was arrested earlier this month after a complaint from the mother of two brothers to whom Dwarika gave private music lessons after school at Trinity Christian School in Palm Beach Gardens.
Kelley’s decision came at the end of a bond hearing where defense attorney Edward Reagan called several witnesses on Dwarika’s behalf, including his sister and the parents of another student. Several members from Dwarika’s church also attended the hearing.
Aside from the $50,000 bail and house arrest, Kelley ordered Dwarika to surrender his passport and ruled he cannot have any contact with anyone from Trinity Christian School or anyone under 18 years old. Dwarika, 38, of Riviera Beach, had been held at the jail without bond since his arrest.
According to arrest reports, the mother of the two boys, ages 8 and 9, went to police after they returned from an outing with Dwarika the day after Christmas.
The mother said she allowed the boys to go with their teacher, who said he wanted to buy them Christmas presents.
The boys, their mother said, later told her that they wound up at a house, and that Dwarika took the younger boy into a room alone. The older boy allegedly told his mother that he saw the two kissing, and the mother claims the younger boy told her that Dwarika had touched him inappropriately on other occasions while in the music room at school.
Dwarika does not have a previous criminal history, according to court records. It’s unclear how long Dwarika worked at the Palm Beach Gardens school, but he worked for Baldwin-Peck Prep School in North Palm Beach in 2005.
According to the article, Dwarika graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in piano performance with a minor in flute and violin.