A Tustin Unified School District employee has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault involving a student on Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Santa Ana Police Department announced.
At around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a report of sexual activity in a vehicle near Westwood Avenue and Riviera Drive. They located a male and female in the backseat.
During their investigation, officers determined that the female was a 16-year-old student at Foothill High School. The man was identified as Mariano Hernandez, 32, a Behavior Interventionist at Benson Elementary in the Tustin Unified School District.
Hernandez and the victim admitted to being in a dating relationship for a few weeks. They reportedly met at Foothill High School, where Hernandez had been a teacher’s aide, department spokesperson Natalie Garcia said. Hernandez then transferred to the elementary school, but continued to see the student.
Details regarding the timeline of those events were not immediately available.
Hernandez was arrested and booked at the Santa Ana jail for contacting and communicating with a minor, lewd acts with a minor, digital penetration and child annoyance.
Tustin Unified School District could not immediately be reached for comment.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective M. Tapia at 714-245-8379, mtapia@santa-ana.org or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
Leave a Reply