A now-former Stockdale Independent School District teacher was sentenced to 13 years in state prison for four felonies related to his sexual misconduct with an underage student.
Peter Aaron Leach, 36, was teaching at Stockdale High School when he was arrested in February 2025 and allowed to resign from the district.
In May 2025, a grand jury indicted Leach on four charges: indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student, both second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison; and child grooming and tampering with evidence, third-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 10 years.
Since then, Leach waived his right to a jury trial and last month agreed to a plea deal.
In a July 30 statement, 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis said Leach entered pleas of no contest to the indecency and improper relationship charges in exchange for a 15-year imprisonment cap. The court sentenced him to 13 years. He entered open pleas to the child grooming and tampering charges, for which the court sentenced him to 10 years.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Louis said the defense had requested deferred adjudication community supervision; her office asked the court to impose the maximum sentence permitted under the plea agreement.
As stated in the Sex Offender Evaluation, “Peter Aaron Leach single-handedly assisted in destroying the trust of students, faculty, families, and the public in the teaching community.”
That assessment reflects the profound harm caused not only to the victim, but also to the confidence families place in those entrusted with educating and protecting children.
Cases involving the exploitation of students by educators represent a profound breach of trust. Our office remains committed to holding offenders accountable and ensuring that those who prey on children face meaningful consequences.
“We are grateful to the victim for the courage it took to come forward and testify,” added Louis.
Leach received a teaching certificate for English in 2019. His certification is under review by the Texas Education Agency and is listed as inactive, with an expiration date of July 31, 2026.
He is among hundreds of Texas school employees accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows the agency is currently investigating more than 2,500 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
