An elementary school teacher in Klein Independent School District was arrested Monday following accusations that he improperly touched a 7-year-old female student “with the intent to arouse and gratify his sexual desire.”
Matthew Stegeman Sr., 52, was charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Stegeman worked at Epps Island Elementary School.
According to ABC13, court documents show that the girl told her mother Stegeman tried to put his hands in her underwear, but she pulled away.
Stegeman allegedly touched the victim in her private area above her clothing, and when she told him “no,” he said, “You may not like it now, but you will later.”
The school’s principal reportedly told police that Stegeman had been “previously counseled about boundaries with students” after he kissed a female student on the cheek.
Klein ISD issued a statement saying the district placed Stegeman on leave when the latest allegations surfaced and later fired him.
Another Klein ISD employee, Greenwood Forest Elementary School music teacher Kenneth Espree, resigned this month after he was charged with five counts of possessing child pornography. The district said parents weren’t notified because Espree’s alleged crimes did not involve students. Espee previously taught at CyFair ISD.
Stegeman was released from jail Wednesday on a $50,000 bond.
State records show that Stegeman’s Texas educator certificate as an “intern” is “inactive” and he is currently “under review” by the Texas Education Agency.
He is the latest Texas teacher accused of sex crimes involving students.
Also this month:
Lawrence Johnson Jr., a choir teacher at Memorial High School in Spring Branch ISD, was arrested Monday and charged sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student, both second-degree felonies. Johnson is accused of starting a sexual relationship with a “depressed” 10th-grade girl that lasted for more than two years.
Another Memorial High School teacher, Stephen Griffin, was arrested December 7 and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, after a girl in his class alleged the two engaged in sex for months while he was separated from his wife.
Alexander Hill, a substitute teacher provided by the Kokua Group to IDEA Public School in Austin, was charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact after three 4th-grade girls said Hill pressed his groin against them and touched their private parts. The school notified parents on Wednesday about the November incident and allegations of a prior incident on another IDEA campus.
Longtime Keller Middle School band director Jedidiah Maus was sentenced this week to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 13 boys over the course of at least 10 years, often exposing himself and touching the students in the school bathroom.
Texas Scorecard has reported on scores of other Texas educators charged with sex crimes.
