It was the first day back at school for students at Harvard Elementary and already parents got some unsettling news.
Delivered in a letter sent home Tuesday was word that second grade teacher Miguel Yepez has been reassigned after his arrest on a charge of indecency with a child.
Yepez was surprised to see us at his north Houston home Tuesday night and quickly shut the door.
"I've seen him as a good father out here with kids. It's surprising," neighbor Maria Hernandez said.
HISD will only say the district learned of the indecency allegation in October, though it reportedly happened three years ago. School officials then contacted police, pulled Yepez out of the classroom and reassigned him away from students. He was arrested last week.
According to court documents, Yepez inappropriately touched a female eight-year-old student multiple times in his second grade classroom at Harvard Elementary from September 2011 to May 2012.
Hernandez is concerned about the children with whom Yepez lives.
"He's always out there with other kids. He's got two kids and there are more who live there," Hernandez said.
In the letter to parents, the school's principal wrote:
"Please know that we take these situations very seriously, as the safety of our students is always our absolute priority. Our priority during this time has been -- and will continue to be -- ensuring that teaching and learning continue uninterrupted," the letter reads.
Yepez is free on a $30,000 bond.
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