As the State inches closer to implementing a crackdown law to curb teachers from crossing the line sexually or romantically with students, authorities charged two more Texas education professionals on counts of alleged inappropriate relationships with minors.
On Wednesday, police arrested Travis Chupe, an eighth grade math teacher in the Frisco Independent School District, accusing him of having an improper sexual entanglement with a 14-year-old female student. Local detectives booked Chupe, 35, into the Frisco Municipal Jail and charged him with two second degree felony counts: improper relationship between a teacher and a student plus indecency with a child. Later, he paid his $5,000 bail and was released.
Officers said the parents of the alleged underage victim brought this situation to their attention. The arrest warrant indicates the girl’s parents learned of text messaging between their daughter and Chupe described as sexual in nature, according to NBC DFW. The girl was a student in Chupe’s class in the upscale suburb north of Dallas. In an interview with detectives, the teen claimed she met with her teacher at Frisco Commons Park three times where they kissed. She also said he touched her breasts.
Frisco Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeff Inman told Breitbart Texas they have no indication, at this time, to suggest Chupe had inappropriate relations with any other students.
Downstate in Alvin ISD, a male maintenance worker stands accused of acting inappropriately with a female high school senior. A Brazoria County grand jury indicted Alejandro Martinez, 36, in late June on two second-degree felony counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student. Online records show police booked him in the Brazoria County Jail on Wednesday on a $25,000 bond. He made bail and was released.
The suburban Houston school district learned that Martinez purportedly hooked up with a 12th grade female student through a tip they received in December 2016. Alvin ISD administrators probed the allegations with their campus police, said spokesman Daniel Combs to the Brazosport Facts. “The findings from the investigation were filed with the district attorney and led directly to the indictment of the individual.”
Combs added that Martinez resigned from his position at the beginning of the investigation. If convicted, the former employee could face up to 20 years in prison.
Alvin ISD Superintendent Buck Gilcrease also released a statement:
Any time an employee of Alvin ISD violates the trust placed in them by our community, regardless of whether the interaction occurred at our schools or elsewhere, we will assist law enforcement in prosecuting to the full extent of the law. We hold our employees that work in our auxiliary departments to the same standards we set for teachers and administrators and expect their actions to reflect that they are entrusted with supporting the education of our students.
Breitbart Texas covers this topic comprehensively and just reported on two male teachers accused of sexual misconduct with female minors and a female kindergarten teacher indicted on 21 charges related to intercourse with four high school boys, two of whom she engaged with for three-way sex. In the 2015-16 academic year, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) investigated a record number of 222 cases of improper educator-student relationships. Between September 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, the agency opened 159 cases. In response to this rampant problem, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 7 which imposes severe penalties on education professionals who violate the public trust and engage in sexual or romantic behaviors with students. It also holds to account principals and superintendents with fines and jail times if they look the other way or fail to report such illicit interludes to the authorities. Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law in May and it goes into effect on September 1.
Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.
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