On Thursday, New Mexico police arrested a middle school teacher for allegedly seeking sexually-explicit images of children.
Santa Fe Public Schools spokesperson Cody Dynarski confirmed to the Santa Fe New Mexican thatPablo Angeles-Guaderrama, 34, a math teacher at Ortiz Middle School, was placed on unpaid leave. Though a court had Angeles-Guaderrama’s case sealed due to his purported “violent history and gang affiliation,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that a public safety assessment shows he has no prior criminal history.
Santa Fe Police Captain Aaron Ortiz declined to tell the news outlet which social media platform Angeles-Guaderrama used in his alleged crimes. However, Ortiz explained the documents in Angeles-Guaderrama’s case were actually sealed because their department has multiple open investigations.
“This is common, especially in undercover investigations,” he told the Santa Fe Reporter.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Angeles-Guaderrama along with another suspect, Orlando Perea, 22, separately contacted an undercover detective who was posing as someone who was distributing illicit photos of children younger than 10. Police said the two cases were investigated separately, resulting in Perea’s arrest on Tuesday.
Both Angeles-Guaderrama and Perea are charged with criminal solicitation to commit sexual exploitation of children.
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[Featured image: Pablo Angeles-Guaderrama/Santa Fe Police Department]