Seeing Red AZ has begun referring to the ongoing saga of sexually exploitive teachers as “the endless parade” — having written about their appalling abuses on numerous occasions.
Today we introduce you to Alfonso Padilla, 36, a cool guy with frosted streaks in his dark hair, who has a propensity for downloading child pornography.
Padilla was arrested last week at Coolidge High School, but had been allowed to teach in at least three other districts while under a state misconduct investigation for downloading dozens of explicit images of young children. He had earlier resigned from the Higley Unified School District in Gilbert, where officials allege he merely downloaded adult pornography.
The case reveals a loophole in state law that allows teachers under a misconduct investigation to work at other schools, even when the allegation could imply an imminent threat or danger to student safety, according to a report in the daily.
Cecilia Johnson, the Coolidge district’s top administrator, said Padilla didn’t say why he left Higley. “In fact, when we called the state board, they told us to ask Padilla why he resigned,” Johnson said.
The state Board of Education President Jacob Moore didn’t respond to calls to his Scottsdale office or e-mail inquiries. The board oversees misconduct inquiries and has four investigators to regulate the state’s 200,000 certified teachers. Investigations are kept secret.
Amazingly, a teacher’s certificate is valid until the case is closed — which means schools depend on the applicant to volunteer that he or she is under investigation.
Seeing Red AZ is seeing red. Read these previous posts on the topic here, here and here.
This one concerns a teacher who was engaged in multiple sexual relationships, which resulted in a murder charge when one of her students stabbed another one to death in a “love triangle.” In that case, officials said they would have divulged the information to the new school, if they would have asked.