HOUSTON – Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced Monday that an agreement has been reached in criminal cases filed last year against former Sharpstown High School Principal Robert Gasparello and former HISD administrators Silvio Leiva and Jason Thomson.
Gasparello was charged with three counts of failure to report child abuse. He has agreed to a one-year pretrial diversion program for two of the three counts. The third was dismissed.
Leiva was charged with one count of failure to report child abuse. He has also agreed to a one-year pretrial diversion program.
Criminal charges against former Assistant Principal Jason Thomson have been dismissed.
"The school district says it will change its policy to conform to what the law requires," Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a prepared statement.
That law requires teachers and administrators to report allegations of child abuse, including sexual abuse, to police or the Child Protective Services within 24 hours of learning of the allegation.
"So what we're telling our (teachers) now is you just report everything and let CPS sort it out. They're going to be inundated," Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said.
The scandal erupted when a Sharpstown High School Spanish teacher, Ysiodoro Rosales-Motola, was accused of having improper relationships with at least three male students. Authorities said students reported the incidents, but the administrators did nothing about the allegations.
HISD has chosen to reinstate the administrators at Sharpstown, although the timeline was not clear Monday afternoon.
"HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has promised he will make reporting alleged child abuse a top priority," said Anderson. "The school district says it will change its policy to conform to what the law requires. Protecting children and following the law is our priority."
"I share the commitment of our District Attorney Devon Anderson to protect our children," said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. "HISD has pledged to work together with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to ensure all of our employees carry out their duties to report child abuse as mandated by the law."
Rosales-Motola was arrested at a Motel 6 located at 22105 Katy Freeway.
Authorities said when Motola was arrested he complained of chest pains and was taken to Ben Taub Hospital.
Rosales-Motola, 56, was charged with one count of indecency of a child and two counts of improper relationship with a student.
The DA's Office said the charges stem from three separate incidents which occurred in May and October 2013. All three incidents involved male students.
According to criminal complaints, two students told Gasparello that Rosales-Motola, a Spanish teacher, had touched them inappropriately. Documents show Thomas and Leiva helped those students translate their allegations to Gasparello.
Court records state that on Oct. 3, 2013, a 17-year-old boy reported that he was inappropriately touched by Rosales-Motola in his classroom when the student stayed after school.
According to court documents, on Oct. 10, 2013, another 17-year-old boy told his ESL teacher that Rosales-Motola used his hand to touch the boy inappropriately after school in the teacher's classroom. The student and the ESL teacher then told Gasparello and Thomson about what had happened.
Detectives said Gasparello and Thomson did not report the alleged incident to police.
Houston police began investigating on Oct. 24 after they learned about the allegations.
Court records show another incident, which occurred on May 22, 2013, involved a 16-year-old boy and Rosales-Motola, where the teacher inappropriately touched the victim in his classroom.
Authorities said Gasparello also did not report an Oct. 19 incident that involved a 16-year-old girl who said she was sexually assaulted before school. Officials said this incident did not involve Rosales-Motola.
Officials said everyone has a moral obligation to report suspected child abuse.