UPDATED September 11 with new information from the Decatur Police Department.
A former Decatur Independent School District athletic trainer and golf coach is accused of sexually assaulting an underage student more than 10 years ago, and police believe he may have victimized more girls.
Fernando Escobar, 42, worked for Decatur ISD from 2009 to 2020 and was the district’s only athletic trainer when the alleged crimes occurred.
His victim was a female Decatur High School student athlete who was injured and referred to the trainer.
According to a report by Fox 4 News, the victim told police she and Escobar began texting about her injury. The messages then became sexual.
Escobar eventually convinced the girl to have sex in a pickup truck at least 10 times, until Escobar’s wife caught them in the truck.
The Decatur Police Department arrested Escobar on September 4. He was booked into the Wise County Jail on September 5 on a charge of sexual assault of a child and later released on a $20,000 bond.
At the time of his arrest, Escobar was out of jail on a $10,000 bond for a different sex crime charge.
On August 21, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office arrested Escobar for indecency with a child by sexual contact.
Both offenses are second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
The Decatur Police Department’s Ashly DoByns confirmed to Texas Scorecard that their arrest is not related to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office arrest.
Texas has no statute of limitations for sexual assault of a child or indecency with a child.
Escobar worked for Decatur ISD as a part-time athletic trainer between 2009 and 2020 and as a part-time golf coach from 2013 to 2020.
State records indicate Escobar does not hold a Texas teaching certificate.
The victim also told police that Escobar had mentioned his wife finding messages between him and a different female—potentially another victim.
Victims or witnesses with information about Escobar are asked to call the Decatur Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 940-393-0309.
Hundreds of Texas educators have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years.
Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the Texas Education Agency since it began keeping organized records in 2021.
