Middle school teacher sexually abused grandson’s girlfriend for months, Texas cops say
_fitted.png "A former teacher at Tanglewood Middle School in Houston is accused of sex crimes against his grandson’s girlfriend, who was an 8th grade student at the school, Texas officials say.")
A now-former Texas middle school teacher is accused of sexually abusing his grandson’s 14-year-old girlfriend over the course of months, officials say.
The 63-year-old, who taught at Tanglewood Middle School in the Houston Independent School District, is facing a slew of sex crime charges including sexual contact with a child and improper relationship with a student, among others, Harris County court records show.
Investigators say the victim began dating the man’s grandson in October, and the girl and grandson were both students at Tanglewood, according to court documents filed June 26.
McClatchy News is not identifying the man in order to protect the identity of his grandson.
He would often give the girl rides home after school and they eventually started talking to each other on FaceTime, investigators added.
In February, he began asking her to do things during their calls, according to documents. First, he told her to show him her breasts, and, at some point, the conversation turned to the subject of her boyfriend — his grandson, investigators said.
He told her “if his grandson could not ‘please her,’ he would show her how, then told her to pleasure herself while he watched, which she did, documents read. He was at home at the time and he told her not to worry about his wife, and that if she walked in “he would just hang up the phone.”
From then on, they “often” had FaceTime calls like this, according to investigators.
McClatchy News reached out to an attorney listed for the man, but did not immediately receive a response. Houston Independent School District also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
He grew bolder as months passed, and while giving her a ride in May, he stopped in the parking lot of a Home Depot and ordered her to climb into his lap, at which point he began touching her genitals, documents read. Despite the teen asking him to stop and repeatedly pushing his hands away, according to investigators, he continued touching her until she pointed out they needed to pick up his grandson from practice.
It’s unclear if the grandson was aware of any of the abuse.
However, prosecutors say at some point the man booked a hotel room for the couple and bought condoms for them, on the condition that they would have sex in front of him, KHOU reported.
The girl isn’t the former teacher’s only victim, according to documents. He was suspended from teaching on March 1 after allegations surfaced that he “hugged and kissed another (14-year-old) student in his class.”
Officials believe there may still be more victims unaccounted for, and ask anyone targeted by the teacher to reach out to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, KHOU reported.
“We work day and night on these cases ... we’re waiting for you,” Jill Wells, with the DA’s office, said. “Just if you are a victim, know that we care, we are here all the time and we’re here to help as we can.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2024 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Middle school teacher sexually abused grandson’s girlfriend for months, Texas cops say."