April 14, 2008 -
Angel Menes, 39, a Driver's Education teacher at Durango High School, was was arrested last night after a parent accused the teacher of engaging in sexual activities with a student. He was booked on one count each of sexual assault and sexual misconduct with a student.
The district said that Menes worked as a long-term substitute. Police said Menes was a driver's education teacher at Durango. The school's Web site lists him as a social studies teacher.
Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, said the allegations against Menes are particularly troubling because there might be multiple victims.Anyone with information concerning Menes' activities is urged to contact Las Vegas police at 828-3421, or, for those who wish to provide information anonymously, 385-5555.
Miller said that under Nevada's state law, a school employee who is convicted of sex with a minor isn't required to register as a sex offender if it is the only charge he or she is convicted of. Miller has been lobbying the Legislature to change that law. She said the loophole allows teachers to prey on students and move from district to district.
"It would be easy for them to move to another jurisdiction and gain employment working with children again," Miller said. "And that's just not right."
Full Name: Angel Benjamin Menes
Claerk County Detention Center Inmate Search
News 3: (Apr 14) Police say the case represents one of the first times that a law prohibiting sexual misconduct with a student has been used since its passage by the 2007 Legislature.
April 15 - News3 obtained a copy of the arrest report.
The arrest report provides graphic details of what allegedly happened between a married substitute teacher and his student. Police say the teacher told investigators that he had oral sex with the student in his wife's minivan. ... According to the arrest report, Menes forced himself upon the student inside his car, not far from the girl's home. ... Police [got involved after] a call from the mother of the alleged victim who says, in the police report, her daughter called her in tears for help.There seems to have been some prior contact where Menes grabbed and kissed the student and she sent him some sexually suggestive photos.
He is now being charged with five felony counts including sexual assault and sexual misconduct with a student. He is on unpaid leave.
In Nevada, the legal age of consent is 16 but it's against the law for school employees to have sex with students.
