A United Independent School District teacher was arrested for allegedly raping and sexually abusing a 14-year-old female middle school student inside his classroom.
David Martinez was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. Both offenses are second-degree felonies punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Martinez was arrested by the United ISD Police Department and booked into the Webb County Jail on May 22. He was released the same day on bonds totaling $140,000—$35,000 for each charge.
At the time of the alleged offenses—shown in arrest records as occurring in May 2025—Martinez was a teacher at Juan Ramirez Middle School.
United ISD stated that Martinez is “no longer employed by the district.”
“Student safety remains our highest priority, and we take matters of this nature very seriously,” the district added.
According to documents obtained by the Laredo Morning Times, the investigation began on April 24 of this year.
United ISD’s human resources department reportedly notified the district’s internal police department after an 8th-grade female student at the middle school disclosed sexual contact by Martinez.
Under a state law that took effect in June 2025, school officials are required to report misconduct allegations to outside law enforcement, not district police.
The arrest affidavit stated that during a forensic interview at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Laredo, the student said her interactions with Martinez during the 2024-25 school year escalated from conversations to kissing and sexual contact.
The teacher allegedly gave the girl a handwritten note asking, “Do you like me?”
The student told CAC that the kissing and sexual touching occurred six to eight times, while Martinez sexually assaulted her twice.
She said the sexual abuse took place mainly in Martinez’s classroom during his planning period. A teacher at Juan Ramirez Middle School confirmed to investigators that the student had occasionally asked to go to the restroom during that time.
Investigators reportedly learned on May 6 that Martinez denied the allegations to CAC but acknowledged being alone with the girl in his classroom multiple times.
United ISD police then interviewed Martinez. According to the affidavit, he again denied the sexual abuse allegations but acknowledged being alone with the 14-year-old at least four times, purportedly to provide “guidance.”
United ISD human resources also sent investigators a CPS report involving a second female student and Martinez.
Investigators reviewed screenshots of messages exchanged among several students that described inappropriate actions by Martinez with both students.
The second student reportedly confirmed that Martinez asked her for a kiss and grabbed her by the waist. The girl said she didn’t report the incident because she didn’t think she would be believed and feared a negative response.
The girl said she learned of the first student’s allegations against Martinez from the victim herself.
Other students told investigators they hadn’t witnessed Martinez’s inappropriate actions with girls at the school.
The Laredo Morning Times reported that the case was presented May 14 to the Children’s Advocacy Center Multidisciplinary Team, which approved the case for prosecution and recommended the charges filed against Martinez.
Online records show Martinez worked at United ISD since the 2014-15 school year.
It’s unclear whether Martinez holds a Texas teaching certificate, but certifications issued to a David Martinez dating back to 2005 and renewed June 1, 2025, are under investigation by the Texas Education Agency.
Martinez is the second United ISD employee arrested this year for alleged sex crimes involving a district student.
In March, police arrested Luis Escamilla, a custodian at LBJ High School in United ISD, on a felony charge of improper relationship between educator and a student.
In the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows that the agency is currently investigating more than 2,000 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
