LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Clark County School District elementary school teacher has been arrested on gross misdemeanor charges for allegedly taking and sharing an inappropriate image of a special needs student.
Top stories for August 21, 2025
Ray Garcia, 42, a physical education teacher at Edna F. Hinman Elemntary School, was arrested Wednesday by Clark County School District police. CCSD said Garcia has been employed with the district since January 2013, and he said he has worked at Hinman Elementary for the past six years.
According to an arrest report obtained by Channel 13, Garcia allegedly texted a nude image of a special needs student in a group chat with four colleagues, including school counselor Bethany Hickey. The message reportedly included the caption "it must be hot outside," which police said Garcia possibly sent as a joke. The arrest report states all Garcia's colleagues were offended by the image.
Hickey reported the image to school principal David Copenbarger on Tuesday, who then contacted authorities and Child Protective Services.
During interviews with investigators, Hickey expressed discomfort with the image and provided police access to her phone to obtain the image and text messages. She told police the student has autism, is nonverbal, and sometimes removes his clothes.
When police interviewed Garcia, he said he did not take the image for "self-gratification."
"I wasn't thinking," Garcia said, according to the arrest report.
Garcia told police he wanted to document for his colleagues what the student does during "episodes" as a "heads up." He then requested a lawyer.
Garcia was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on gross misdemeanor charges related to capturing an image of the private area of another person and sharing it.
According to CCSD, Garcia will be placed on unpaid leave once he is released, per his teaching contract.
