EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — In the span of a week, three employees of the Socorro Independent School District were arrested in connection with inappropriate behavior involving children.
These employees include a bus driver, a security guard, and a middle school math teacher.
RELATED:SISD bus driver, security guard charged with inappropriate conduct with 10, 15 year-olds
The math teacher fromCaptain Walter E. Clarke Middle School, Llojan Almaraz, is accused of using a school-sanctioned app called SportsYou, which allows faculty and students to communicate, to groom a 12-year-old student.
RELATED:Socorro ISD teacher arrested again, faces new charges of soliciting a minor
For over a week and a half, CBS4/KFOX14 has been trying to get answers from SISD about how they monitor communication on these apps.
“So in reference to the monitoring, I couldn’t answer that question myself. I don’t know how that is monitored,” said SISD Chief of Police, George Johnson. “Couldn’t tell you who does or who doesn’t.I don’t have that information.That’s not one of the things that the police department does.”
KFOX14/CBS4 anchor Vania Castillo sat down with FBI Special Agent Alex Bustillos about signs parents should be on the lookout for.
Castillo: Usually, you think about social media and like how parents should be keeping an eye on that. What can parents do when it comes to apps like these that are like from school?
Bustillos:Most definitely educate yourselves. As a parent, you have this false pretense that if the school district is giving you something, it has to be or it must be safe at the end of the day, if it’s connected to the internet, you just don’t know. So the best tip for parents to do is to get in there and actually see how these apps are working, how they function.
Castillo: Are there any other safeguards we could be putting in place?
Bustillos: Well,that’s a loaded question at the end of the day, no matter what you do, you can safeguard with third-party apps that going to monitor kids’ web browsing or who they’re chatting with and stuff like that. We’re not in the in the process of selling any app, so that’s why we’re not mentioning a particular app.But even through all of that, kids are going to find a way to really get on to what they need to you at the end of the day, you can take away the device and say, “Hey, well, my kid doesn’t have access to a device.” And we’ve had cases, me personally, where a child did not have access to a device, their parents took it away, and throughout the investigation, well, they got a device from a friend at school. And nowadays, all you need is an internet signal, right? Whether it’s at school, you have Wi-Fi, whether it’s at a coffee shop, at the public library, you’re going to have access to the internet, and that device is going to act just like a computer.
Castillo: Is there any advice you have for parents on creating a space that’s safe for kids to feel open about having these conversations?
Bustillos: You know, you can’t be a child’s friend when it comes to this, you are the parent. You’re the one who has to deal with the repercussions of what’s going on, but knowing that they can come to you, knowing that there’s a safe place, just having that open dialogue and letting them know, “Hey, I’m here for you, and let’s talk about what’s going on.”
RELATED:El Paso middle school teacher arrested on multiple sex charges involving a student
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