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 booked at Clark County Detention Center.
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.
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.
This is an ongoing investigation.