A San Antonio KIPP charter school teacher was arrested after a 15-year-old female student accused the educator of forcibly hugging and fondling her at the end of the last school year.
Priscilla Castro, 27, was arrested Friday night on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Castro was a teacher at KIPP University Prep High School in San Antonio when the alleged sexual misconduct occurred on May 23.
The victim reportedly told police that Castro was overly affectionate throughout the year and made her feel “uncomfortable.”
The student said that while they were alone in a classroom on the last day of school, Castro asked her for a hug then grabbed her breast through her clothes and asked if she could kiss the girl. The student was able to escape the teacher’s grasp.
The victim didn’t say anything at the time, but Castro continued to contact the girl, asking if she was going to report her to the police.
On Friday, the victim made an outcry to her mother, who then reported the incident to the San Antonio Police Department, according to a statement released Saturday. The department’s Special Victims Unit investigated and obtained an arrest warrant for Castro.
Castro was booked into the Bexar County Jail early Saturday and later released on a $50,000 bond.
KIPP Texas Public Schools released a statement Saturday indicating that Castro had begun working at KIPP’s Aspire Academy in San Antonio, but said the school had since fired the teacher.
At KIPP Texas Public Schools the safety of our students is our top priority. As soon as we were notified of alleged sexual misconduct between a teacher formerly at KIPP UPrep and now at KIPP Aspire and a student at KIPP UPrep, we immediately conducted an internal investigation and alerted the student’s family and the San Antonio Police Department as well as other appropriate state agencies. After conducting our internal investigation, we terminated the teacher’s employment at KIPP Aspire. We will cooperate fully with the police investigation and work with the criminal justice system to seek the greatest consequences possible.
Online records show Castro has worked for KIPP since 2022.
San Antonio Police detectives are asking other potential victims to contact the SVU office at 210-207-2313.
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.
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