Houston ISD substitute teacher charged with indecency with a child
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston ISD substitute teacher has been arrested and charged with three counts of indecency with a child.
Pete Hernandez is accused of inappropriate contact with three students while working at Looscan Elementary School.
In November, ABC13 spoke with a woman who said her daughter was one of four first grade girls Hernandez allegedly touched. The mother said her daughter was nervous and scared to come back to school. She said the substitute teacher put her daughter on his lap, kissed her in the mouth and rubbed her waist area about 10 times.
According to the woman, her daughter said she was scared she would get in trouble because the substitute teacher would make the boys in the class face a wall and yell at them.
In our original report, parents also told ABC13 that the teacher -- now identified as Hernandez -- would tell female students to sit on his leg and kiss them.
Full statement from HISD:
The Harris County District Attorney's Office has accepted criminal charges against a former HISD substitute teacher following an HISD police investigation into reports that he engaged in inappropriate conduct with three students while working at Looscan Elementary School.
The suspect - Pete Hernandez - was arrested Wednesday and charged with three counts of indecency with a child. He is no longer employed with the district.
The allegations were first reported to school officials in November at which time the substitute teacher was removed from the campus and an internal investigation begun. The administration also notified HISD Police and Children's Protective Service (CPS) of the allegation. Police then presented findings from their investigation to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which accepted criminal charges.
HISD takes situations such as this very seriously, as the safety of students is always the district's top priority.
