A middle school math teacher in El Paso, Texas, is accused of sexually grooming a 12-year-old girl, and has been arrested twice.
The suspect, 28-year-old Llojan Almaraz, who is a teacher at Captain Walter E. Clarke Middle School, has since been placed on administrative leave, the El Paso Times reported on Wednesday.
An image shows the school campus:
Socorro Independent School District Police Department officers initially arrested Almaraz on September 13 regarding a single count of child grooming, improper relationship between educator and student, indecency with a child, and sexual performance of a child.
Once authorities booked him into jail on a $150,000 bond, he posted bail the following day and was released. He was arrested a second time on Friday regarding two counts of online solicitation of a minor.
“He was booked into the jail on a $80,000 bond. He was released from jail after posting bail the same day,” the report said, noting he has worked at the school since late 2021.
When one of the school district’s officers was notified on August 28 about a teacher allegedly having an improper relationship with a student, the officer informed the principal and also met with the alleged victim’s mother who said her daughter and the suspect had been talking to each other on the phone and texting.
Almaraz is accused of sending the girl images showing the man exposing himself. According to an affidavit, there were “several excerpts of the alleged conversations between Almaraz. The message are explicit, including Almaraz stating he wanted to sneak into the girl’s room, treat her like a ‘sex slave,’ and wanted to get her pregnant, the affidavit states.”
The suspect also allegedly bought the victim gifts, groped, kissed, and forced her to perform a sexual act. Almaraz is also accused of targeting a second female student who later stopped talking to him because she felt like he was grooming her.
In January, another teacher in Texas was accused of grooming a now-former, female student during a sexual relationship over the course of several years.
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) website, “One tool common to those who sexually abuse kids is grooming: manipulative behaviors that the abuser uses to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse, and reduce the risk of being caught.”
“Grooming can take place online or in-person. It’s usually employed by a family member or someone else in the victim’s circle of trust, such as a coach, teacher, youth group leader or others who naturally have some interaction with the victim,” the site reads.
