Teacher accused of sexual relationship with 14-year-old student

McALLEN — A 30-year-old high school math teacher faced felony charges Thursday that he carried on a yearlong relationship with a student less than half his age.

Police said the 14-year-old student told her mother of the improper relationship with the IDEA Quest Academy & College Preparatory instructor Tuesday at their McAllen home.

Ricardo Garcia Jr. and the student began having sex during Spring Break in March, but the pair began regularly exchanging text messages in May 2008, according to court documents in the case.

Police arrested Garcia on Wednesday.

It is the policy of The Monitor to not identify those who may be victims of sex crimes.

A McAllen police officer responded to a "family disturbance" at the home about 6:41 p.m. Tuesday, but police could not confirm the disturbance stemmed from the girl telling her mother about her alleged relationship with Garcia.

Clad in a white T-shirt with a tattoo showing on his right arm at his arraignment Thursday morning, Garcia held his head low as McAllen Municipal Judge Kathleen Henley read the girl's allegations and the criminal charges against him.

Garcia was arraigned on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, four counts of sexual assault and one count of having an improper relationship with a student.

Henley set his bond at $1 million for the charges, the most severe of which could send him to prison for up to 99 years.

Tom Torkelson, founder and chief executive officer of Idea Public Schools, said the accusations against Garcia are the first against any teacher at the decade-old college preparatory school's campuses.

Garcia, who has taught at the IDEA Quest campus - located at 14001 N. Rooth Road in Edinburg - for two years, has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the investigations, Torkelson said.

"As the parent of two young children, please know that the safety and well-being of our students is my top priority," he wrote in a statement. "With everyone - teachers, parents, administrators - working together, we can build a community of support and safety that protects all of our children."

The relationship between Garcia and the girl began at least a year ago, when the girl was a sixth-grade student at IDEA Quest, court documents state.

The pair exchanged text messages and on May 11, 2008 - Mother's Day - Garcia told the girl he loved her, according to the court records.

Garcia's contact with the girl dropped off last summer, because he "was afraid her mother would find out," but started again by the following school year, the criminal complaint in the case states.

By December, when the girl was 13, she became Garcia's girlfriend and they went to several movies, where they sat in the back row at the corner of the theater, police said she told them.

The girl told police she later lost her virginity to Garcia - after she had turned 14 - because "he told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her," according to the criminal complaint.

The pair had sex four times from March 16 to May 15 at his house and at a McAllen hotel, the court records state. The girl told police she sneaked out of her house to meet with Garcia.

Torkelson said school officials notified other IDEA Quest students' parents of the Garcia situation after he was arrested Wednesday.

"Over the last decade we have seen that no school - private, religious, or public - is immune from these types of incidents, but we can all be vigilant on behalf of our youth," Torkelson wrote in a statement.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.