Details emerge after former Mesquite ISD coach arrested for child grooming
NORTH TEXAS — A 54-year-old former Mesquite ISD coach allegedly groomed a teen, engaging in inappropriate behavior such as "kissing on the forehead, hugging, (and) holding hands," according to a spokesman from the Balch Springs Police Department.
Sergio Gonzalez, who served as a teacher and coach for 20 years at A.C. New Middle School, was arrested Wednesday and charged with the felony of child grooming.
Police say Gonzalez had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
Mesquite ISD says a social worker noted the relationship in August and that Gonzalez was put on administrative leave. He later resigned.
According to the arrest affidavit, Mesquite ISD found video at A.C. New Middle School showing Sergio Gonzalez "grabbing the victim's buttocks and walking down the hallway holding hands before entering his classroom." The school's surveillance video also showed him and the victim arriving at the school together in July, bringing pillows, blankets, and what looked to be an inflatable mattress. The school district declined to give CBS News Texas copies of those videos.
"So, you can clearly see that they came into a room, and then the next morning, they came out wearing different clothes," said Officer Pedro Gonzalez, the Balch Springs Police Department spokesman.
According to police, the former teacher and coach told another teacher the victim was his daughter and that he would often use his status as a father to convince the victim's parents to let her spend the night at his house.
"He was sending them a text message saying, 'my daughter and my granddaughter want to go to the movies,'" Officer Pedro Gonzalez said. "That's what makes it worse in this situation where this individual not only used his authority as a teacher but also his role as a father to manipulate the victim's parents."
Child grooming charges are new to the state of Texas. According to the new law, an offense is labeled "child grooming" if the person knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in specific conduct, including sexual activity. Under the new state law, child grooming is a third-degree felony.
The Balch Springs police spokesman said these could be the first child grooming charges filed in Dallas County.
The victim is not cooperating with law enforcement right now.
"It seems a little like Stockholm syndrome, where someone gets kidnapped and they think they're not the victim. Same scenario. She does not believe she's the victim. She truly believes that she's in love with him," Officer Pedro Gonzalez explained.
CBS News Texas attempted to contact Sergio Gonzalez and his family but has not yet received a response. Gonzalez's bond is set at $60,000.
