SANTA ROSA — The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office is widening its scope on the Santa Rosa school district.
Now, the investigation focuses on whether school district personnel are linked to the cases of two coaches indicted on charges stemming from alleged sexual relationships with students.
Meanwhile, school board members Tuesday voted against launching an investigation into current Superintendent Angela Gonzalez after she filed a complaint questioning whether she was reprimanded for reporting alleged illegal activity surrounding the cases of coaches Josue Arnoldo Cepeda, 35, and Isaac Ruben Flores, 24.
On May 22, a grand jury indicted the coaches on charges stemming from allegations of sexual relationships with students.
“She’s fully cooperated with local law enforcement to provide information so they can conduct their investigation,” Tony Conners, an attorney representing Gonzalez, said late yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday, Victoria Cisneros, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, confirmed local, state and federal investigators are trying to identify individuals involved in those alleged incidents or whether they were covered up.
In May 2018, school district officials failed to respond to reports that Cepeda and Flores were allegedly having relationships with students, according to a District Attorney’s Office earlier press release.
Gonzalez was hired in March, after law enforcement agencies launched the investigation into allegations going back at least two years.
“We are committed to seeing all those who were either involved or complicit in these incidents, contributed to concealing the abuse and/or hindered any investigation are held accountable,” Cisneros stated yesterday.
On Thursday, Cisneros declined to disclose whether the district attorney’s office was investigating school district officials’ failure to respond to reports Cepeda and Flores where allegedly having relationships with students.
But yesterday, she confirmed the investigation has widened.
“The arrest and indictment of the two coaches from Santa Rosa has exposed a number of issues requiring further investigation,” Cisneros stated yesterday. “Investigators with my office and various local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies continue to work to identify individuals who warrant questioning and referral to the grand jury.”
On Tuesday, school board members met in closed session with an attorney “regarding legal issues in connection with a possible investigation of alleged misconduct by (the) superintendent and/or other district personnel,” according to the meeting’s agenda.
Yesterday, board President Raul Garza and board members Danny Theys, Arnulfo Castañeda and Sandra Rickford did not respond to emailed messages requesting comment on the school district’s possible investigation.
In February, the District Attorney’s Office launched its investigation after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force received telephone tips regarding allegations Cepeda and Flores were having improper relationships with students, Cisneros stated.
Then on May 22, a Cameron County grand jury indicted Cepeda and Flores and Magistrate Judge Louis Sorola ordered each man held on $525,000 bail, setting bail at $75,000 per count.
Sorola charged Cepeda with one count of improper relationship and six counts of sexual assault, all second-degree felonies.
Meanwhile, Flores was charged with one count of improper relationship, two counts of sexual assault and four counts of delivery of a controlled substance or marijuana.
All charges are second-degree felonies carrying as much as two to 22 years in state prison.
Cepeda and Flores are being held in the Cameron County jail
.
