State complaint says a Miami-Dade counselor treating 2 kids tried to kiss, caress mom
A North Miami Beach registered clinical social worker intern is accused of kissing and improperly touching the mother of two boys he was counseling.
That’s in the administrative complaint filed in December by the Florida Department of Health against Lerine Edouazin’s license. The complaint starts the discipline process.
An emergency restriction order (ERO), filed in November, prohibits Edouazin from “practicing clinical social work on female patients.”
Edouazin, 62, has been licensed in Florida since 2014, according to his online Florida Department of Health license profile.
Reached by phone Monday afternoon, Edouazin told a Miami Herald reporter to speak to his attorney. Edouazin then refused to give the name of his attorney and said, “This is a private matter.”
The publicly posted complaint and ERO say while working for Chrysalis Health, Edouazin began counseling an 11-year-old in October 2020 and, his 15-year-old brother in April 2021. Those counseling sessions via Zoom were supplemented with parent-counselor Zoom sessions with their mother.
The ERO says during a June 2021 parent-counselor session June, Edouazin “made inappropriate comments” by telling her that she was beautiful and asking about her dating life.
A Wednesday in the park
During a July 7, 2021 session, the complaint says, Edouazin suggested a park that they could go to for some time alone and she could bring her sons, too. When Edouazin offered to show her the park, the ERO says, they agreed to meet there on July 21 while the boys were in summer school. While there, they talked about one of the boy’s counseling.
Edouazin “interrupted ... [the woman] on multiple occasions to tell her she was beautiful,” the ERO said. “Mr. Edouazin’s comments made [her] uncomfortable but she did not believe that Mr. Edouazin would do anything that would put his career at risk, so she continued the meeting.”
But, later, the complaint says, “While seated on a park bench, [Edouazin] leaned in and kissed [her] on the mouth. [Edouzain] then reached his hand around the left side of [her] body and touched her lower back and upper buttocks.
The woman “pulled away and told [Edouazin] that she was not comfortable with [Edouazin] touching or kissing her.”
The ERO says Edouzain asked: “But, you’re comfortable with me, right?” and told her he wanted their relationship to be more than counselor and parent, “that he wanted to be “friends.”
“Mr. Edouazin advised their relationship would have to be a secret because he was married.”
