Former IDEA Rio Vista teacher arrested in eighth grade student sex case in Socorro
A teacher faces a criminal charge for allegedly having sexual relations with a 14-year-old eighth grader, who had told her mother she was staying after school for tutoring, court documents stated.
William David Patterson, 27, who was an eighth grade biology teacher at IDEA Rio Vista charter school, was arrested last month on a charge of improper relationship between an educator and student following a three-month investigation by Socorro police.
IDEA Public Schools said in a statement that Patterson is no longer an employee and that he was under an internal investigation and had not been on its campus since May, when the allegations first arose. "At IDEA Public Schools, our top priority is the safety and security of our students," the school added.
IDEA Rio Vista was founded in 2018 and has more than 1,200 students in kindergarten to 11th grade at its campus at 210 N. Rio Vista Road in Socorro.
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The investigation began on May 31 when the girl's mother walked into Socorro Police Headquarters to report finding sexually explicit text messages on her daughter's cellphone between the girl and a teacher, stated a complaint affidavit filed by a Socorro police detective.
A Texas Department of Public Safety special agent assisted Socorro police detectives with a "phone dump" to retrieve archived information from the cellphone.
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Investigators allegedly pulled several screen shots from Whatsapp of inappropriate conversations between Patterson and the girl talking about a romantic relationship, ranging from the flirtatious to extremely sexual content more comparable to "Penthouse" than the schoolhouse.
The conversations continued for several weeks with Patterson allegedly insisting that the girl send him nude photos of herself. He allegedly told her what he was doing was illegal and that he could get in trouble. The nude photos were retrieved by investigators, the affidavit stated.
The complaint stated that Patterson "confesses to her (the girl) that he wants to marry her and that she is the woman he's been waiting for."
IDEA Rio Vista teacher allegedly had sex with student in parked car
The text-message trail allegedly included a March 25 message that the girl sent to her mother asking if she could stay afterschool for tutoring, which was a lie and an excuse to sneak out and meet Patterson, the affidavit stated.
Patterson allegedly picked up the girl in a Walmart store parking lot and drove to the Rio Vista Community Center at 901 N. Rio Vista Road in Socorro, the complaint stated. He allegedly parked in the rear of the property and had sex with the girl in the backseat of his 2015 Chrysler 300.
Investigators also recovered explicit messages between the two discussing the sexual encounter, according to the affidavit.
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When interviewed by investigators, the girl allegedly told them she sent Patterson nude photos and that she had sex with him twice, both times in his car behind the community center, the affidavit stated.
On July 12, investigators contacted Patterson after obtaining a search warrant for his cellphone and asked him to come to Socorro Police Headquarters to answer questions regarding a sexual assault case. Patterson initially agreed but then declined to speak with police without talking to his lawyer and refused to release his cellphone, police said in the affidavit.
On Aug. 2, a criminal complaint accusing Patterson of having an improper relationship with a student was filed by Socorro police and a warrant for his arrest was issued. He was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail on Sept. 6. He was released from jail that same day on a $100,000 surety bond. The case is pending in court.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former IDEA school teacher arrested in eighth grade student sex case
