A Magnolia teacher accused of molesting girls in his second-grade classroom is facing additional sex crime charges involving his now-former students.
Jason Tomas Maldonado, 40, was taken into custody Tuesday and booked into the Montgomery County Jail on felony charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student.
Maldonado was first arrested in May and charged with attempted improper relationship between educator and student but had been free on a $150,000 bond.
Warrants for the new charges were issued out of Montgomery County, but Maldonado was reportedly picked up in Pasadena. Bail was set at $30,000 for each charge.
Maldonado was a teacher at Magnolia Parkway Elementary in the Magnolia Independent School District at the time of the alleged crimes.
After Maldonado’s first arrest, parents learned he had been placed on leave in December 2025 and later resigned.
The Montgomery County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office began investigating Maldonado in December following a report received through Child Protective Services.
Several students told investigators that Maldonado subjected them to inappropriate physical contact while in his classroom, including prolonged hugging, having girls sit in his lap and straddle him, and touching them underneath or inside their clothing.
The incidents allegedly occurred during the 2024–25 and 2025–26 school years.
Maldonado had worked for Magnolia ISD since the 2022-23 school year and previously taught in Aldine ISD.
Magnolia mom Tayla Craig has accused school officials of minimizing parents’ past complaints about Maldonado’s classroom behavior, enabling him to molest more students.
Craig says she and other moms warned Magnolia ISD administrators about Maldonado’s red-flag behavior with students as far back as 2022—from sexualized comments and boundary crossing to excessive and inappropriate touching.
She and her husband filed a grievance with the district after learning their daughter had been one of Maldonado’s “favorites.”
School administrators denied any responsibility during Levels 1 and 2 of the grievance process. The grievance is now at a Level 3 appeal. A hearing before the Magnolia ISD school board is scheduled for August 24.
“We just want to thank Montgomery County Constable Precinct 5 officers for the incredible amount of work and dedication they have put into this case,” Craig told Texas Scorecard on Tuesday after learning of the new charges against Maldonado.
“Detective Diane Peterson truly cares about these children, and it shows in everything she has done,” said Craig. “We are incredibly grateful that they have taken this seriously and are working to hold him accountable, especially after so many opportunities to protect these children were missed. Their commitment means more to our families than we can put into words.”
Families whose children may have had contact with Maldonado are encouraged to contact the Montgomery County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office at 281-259-6493.
Maldonado has held a Texas teaching certificate since 2016. On July 30, Maldonado’s certification was indefinitely suspended, and he was placed on the state’s Do Not Hire Registry until the criminal charges against him are finally resolved.
Hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years, and thousands have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows that the agency is currently investigating more than 2,500 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
