Española teacher charged with sex abuse
Jun. 17—A special-education teacher at Española Valley High School working on a visa from the Philippines faces a count of rape after she was accused of sexually assaulting a teen student several months ago.
Makana Masacayan, 26, charged with a fourth-degree felony count of criminal sexual penetration of a minor, was arrested Wednesday and booked in the Rio Arriba County jail in Tierra Amarilla.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, New Mexico State Police began investigating Masacayan after the 16-year-old boy told his juvenile probation officer he had proof on his cellphone he had engaged in a sexual relationship with her.
A state police officer seized the cellphone and scheduled a forensic interview for the boy. In a talk with the forensic interviewer earlier this month, the boy described interactions with Masacayan and said he had sex with her at least once, the complaint said. The teacher had made advances toward him on multiple occasions, the boy said, including giving him a "lap dance" on a chair in a classroom closet and touching his genitals.
The boy said he believed Masacayan had behaved similarly with other students, a state police investigator wrote in the complaint.
The boy and Masacayan communicated with each other on Instagram and through text messages, he told the forensic interviewer.
State police Agent Wyatt Harwell wrote in the complaint he spoke with Española Valley High School Principal Jeffrey Sagor, who said the school was aware of rumors about the teacher having "inappropriate contact" with students. School officials conducted an investigation in February and determined the claims were false, Sagor said, according to the complaint.
Harwell wrote, "They did not notify law enforcement."
After obtaining a search warrant to extract data from the boy's cellphone, Harwell wrote, he discovered videos and text messages that "substantiate facts disclosed in [the boy's] forensic interview."
Española Public Schools said in a statement Thursday the high school learned of the investigation into Masacayan before her arrest and had removed her from any position that involved interaction with students.
"An internal investigation had already been started by [Española Public Schools] and will continue in cooperation with the pending law enforcement investigation. Should the allegations be substantiated, the district will take strong and appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination," the statement said.
The allegations against Masacayan come just months after Gary Gregor, a former elementary school teacher in Española and Santa Fe, was handed his third prison sentence in criminal sexual abuse cases dating back to 2004. Altogether, Gregor faces
198 years in prison on convictions of raping and molesting young female students.
Española Public Schools paid about $21 million in settlements with young women who alleged in lawsuits they were victims of Gregor's abuse as students. Santa Fe Public Schools settled civil cases with two women for more than $7.2 million.
No school official from either district reported concerns of abuse by Gregor to police.
Parents in Española spoke with police about Gregor in 2009, years before he finally was indicted.
