A 41-year-old special education teacher from Palmview High School was arrested Friday after an investigation revealed he solicited more than 50 minors for sexually explicit images through social media.
Juan Carlos Munoz was arrested on charges of persuading persons who haven’t attained the age of 18 years to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity after a 14-year-old sent him nude images, which constitutes as receipt of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint states that the Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigations Task Force received an investigative referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last Tuesday.
“The referral stated that the York County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina received information regarding the online enticement of a 14-year-old minor child,” the complaint said.
According to the referral, YCSO reported that the minor sent nude images to a man in Texas claiming to be a 19-year-old male which YCSO investigated and completed a series of reports leading them to discover a phone number.
That phone number led RGV CEITF to identify Munoz as a suspect.
On Friday, RGV CEITF, with the assistance of the La Joya Independent School District Police Department, contacted Munoz at Palmview High School where Munoz has been employed as a special education teacher for 14 years.
RGV CEITF escorted Munoz to the police station for an interview where Muniz admitted to soliciting the South Carolina minor for sexually explicit images and videos through several online media applications.
He added that he believed the minor was 11 or 12 years old.
Munoz also told special investigators that he had solicited over 50 minors using the internet for nude images and videos for the last three years and would fondle himself over video chat while instructing the children to perform sexual acts.
Court records indicate Munoz made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker Monday morning.
