Foreign-exchange host accused of molesting student commits suicide

A Cutler Bay foreign-exchange host accused of molesting an underage student is believed to have killed himself days after being released from jail to await trial.

Police early Tuesday rushed to the home of Dale Leary, 50, who was found inside a car along with a woman believed to be his first wife, Claudia Leary. She was rushed to Jackson South Hospital and is still alive. A hose was found nearby, although police did not say exactly how the man died.

The Miami-Dade Police Department did not officially identify the pair.

Rescuers were summoned to the house, 8531 SW 185th Terr, after a family friend called 911.

The double would-be suicide adds a twist to an already bizarre story and what was a widening police investigation into Leary, a tech and advertising consultant.

Dale and Claudia Leary had served as foreign-exchange hosts, even though he had a 1985 conviction for a sex assault in Coral Gables.

Last month, police arrested Leary and his second wife, Marta San Jose, 21, who had been a former foreign-exchange student of theirs from Spain. Detectives said the two lured San Jose’s underage sister to Miami as an exchange student, only to brainwash her into participating in sex acts and pornographic photo shoots.

Police identified the victim as San Jose’s own sister, who is now 16.

Leary divorced Claudia Leary in 2014, marrying San Jose days after she turned 18, records show. But Claudia remained a part of their lives – and detectives had been examining what role, if any, she played in Leary’s suspected misconduct.

Claudia Leary is a longtime Miami-Dade schools administrator based at the J.R.E. Lee Education Center.

San Jose remains in jail. Her defense lawyer, Jorge Viera, learned of Leary’s death early Tuesday and was preparing to break the news to his client.

“I’m going to see Marta in the jail, along with a chaplain,” Viera said. “This is shocking. A very sad situation.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2017 at 7:22 AM with the headline "Foreign-exchange host accused of molesting student commits suicide."