A former teacher at a charter school in Las Vegas was arrested Feb. 19 after police say he sexually assaulted and threatened a nine-year-old student.
Samuel Duarte was charged with sexual assault of a minor younger than 16 and lewdness with a child under 14 after allegations that he acted inappropriately with a student surfaced in November, reports the Review Journal.
Duarte, 29, had been a special education aide at Mater Academy until the school learned of the allegations. He had worked in the Clark County School District since 2008.
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Duarte’s arrest report claims he gave a student gifts and sexually assaulted her while she stood at his desk in the front of his classroom. It also claims he threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the assault.
Duarte has denied the allegations but failed to show up for a polygraph test in November.
Duarte had been the subject of a previous police investigation after an incident involving an autistic 14-year-old boy in 2014. That case was dropped because of insufficient evidence.
Mater Academy Principal Renee Fairless said Duarte passed all background checks and that she would not have hired him if she was aware of the 2014 allegations.
“He was never alone with a student,” Fairless said.
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