An Arlington teacher arrested and charged with having an improper relationship between a student and an educator coerced the student and took steps to conceal his actions, according to a news release from police.
Alberto de la Cruz, 34, was arrested Friday after an investigation by the Newman International Academy police and Arlington police, according to a release from the charter school’s law enforcement department.
In a new statement from the Newman International Academy police on Thursday, authorities said Newman used his role as the athletics director to gain access to the student and “deliberately manipulated and coerced the victim through the power imbalance” that existed because of his position of authority as a coach.
De la Cruz committed “inappropriate, unprofessional, and unacceptable behaviors” numerous times, both on and off campus, according to the news release. The charge he faces is a second-degree felony.
Authorities said de la Cruz took “intentional steps” to hide his actions from coworkers, students, the parents of the victim and his spouse. He has been permanently, criminally banned from all school campuses, activities and locations in the school district, police said.
The school fired de la Cruz, who had been an employee for seven years, because of the offense for which he is charged and has reported the alleged abuse to the State Board for Educator Certification, asking that his license as an educator be revoked, according to school district police.
School authorities also reported the alleged abuse to Child Protective Services.
De la Cruz was arrested in Waxahachie by Newman International Academy and Waxahachie police, according to the news release. He had been placed on administrative leave from the school and banned from returning to campus when the investigation began, before he was fired.
Authorities at the academy’s Gibbins High School location in Arlington received a report April 24 that de la Cruz was involved in an improper relationship with a student and immediately began an investigation, according to the news release. Detectives with the Arlington Police Department led the criminal investigation with the support of the academy’s police department, eventually finding enough evidence to acquire an arrest warrant, police said.
Police from Waxahachie and Newman International Academy booked de la Cruz in at the Ellis County Jail on April 28, according to the news release. As of Tuesday he was no longer listed as an inmate in the jail, according to county records.
De la Cruz was released from jail on $35,000 bond, according to the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.
Newman International Academy, a charter school, operates seven campuses with three in Arlington, two in Mansfield, one in Fort Worth and one in Cedar Hill, according to its website.