LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A public charter school teacher from the Young Women's Leadership Academy of Las Vegas is being accused of engaging in sexual conversations with minors online and trying to produce child sexual abuse material.
30-year-old Marco Penaloza was arrested for two counts of alleged use or permit, age 14 or older, to produce "pornography" and was booked at Clark County Detention Center.
VIDEO: Jhovani Carrillo breaks down the details in arrest report sent to Channel 13
"The first thing that came to my head is sickening when you said that because I thought you might have had a different school. Yeah, so it's surprising to see that," said Jeremy Murden, who lives nearby.
According to an arrest report obtained by Channel 13, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received two reports of a person trying to contact minors in a way that violates the terms of service for X Corp.
Through a search warrant, authorities reviewed content made available by X Corp. Police would find several images that would suggest that Penaloza was behind the X account messaging minors, including a picture depicting a man in professional attire in a bathroom with a marble pattern that appears to match the tile and color pattern to that of public images of the Young Woman's Leadership Academy.
The arrest report goes on to show conversations between two profiles that Peneloza was allegedly talking to on X, asking the minors to harm themselves and take photos of the act.
One message, allegedly sent by Penaloza, details his desire for a sexual encounter with one of his former students.
"To find out that there's someone in that power and that authority that can abuse it, that's enraging. Hopefully, they throw him in jail," added Murden.
Police interviewed Penaloza, who initially denied engaging in inappropriate conversations with minors, but later confessed to targeting profiles of girls engaging in self-harm and having conversations with the two profiles on X, asking them to self-harm and send photos, according to Metro Police.
According to the arrest report, Penaloza stated, "he has never spoken with someone under 15 years old and adamantly denied being inappropriate with any students or juveniles outside of the internet."
When asked about the comment he made about one of his students, "Marco admitted this was an accurate statement and true to his experience," according to the report.
At the time of the report, he had been a teacher of 6th and 7th-grade math at Young Women's Leadership Academy for about two weeks. Before working at the Young Women's Leadership Academy, he worked for Mater Academy at the East and Cactus campuses.
The charter school shared the following statement with Channel 13.
"Young Women's Leadership Academy of Las Vegas became aware of the investigation into an employee yesterday. Upon learning about the investigation, the employee was immediately removed from his duties at the school and was terminated upon his arrest. At this time, YWLA has been told that the investigation and arrest is not connected to this employee's time at YWLA and does not involve any YWLA students or other staff members. YWLA will fully cooperate with law enforcement if any information is requested from us.
At YWLA we have strict policies and protocols in place to keep our students safe. These protocols include running extensive background checks on all employees as mandated by the state. Our top priority is to ensure a safe and secure environment for our students and families, as well as deliver quality education."
Murden said this serves as an important reminder for parents to have open conversations with their children.
"Talk to your kids more, don't leave it to the social network," said Murden.
Meantime, Penaloza is set to be in court on Tuesday morning.
This is an ongoing investigation.