After questions were raised around a Riverside Unified School District employee facing 19 felony charges for the alleged sexual abuse of children, the district released a statement Friday evening clarifying the man’s role with the district and the district’s response to his arrest.
Mario Moralez Guadalupe, a 31-year-old Riverside resident, has been accused of sexually abusing as many as 21 children, an investigation only uncovered by an anonymous tip to the Press-Enterprise.
Initially, school district officials declined to reveal information about Guadalupe, though Friday evening, they said that choice was made so they coordinated “the release of information to the community to be timed with the conclusion of the investigation.”
Upon learning of the allegations, district officials placed Guadalupe — whom they described as a landscaper, though the initial report called him a janitor — on leave. They added that the publication of the story changed the timeline for their planned disclosure.
“It is important that we reassure our families now rather than later,” the district statement said. “The staff member was assigned to a district facility, not to a school site. At this time, no information has been shared with us to indicate that the offenses leading to the arrest were related to their role as a district employee.”
Guadalupe is being held in lieu of $1.22 million bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility. He’s next due to appear in court at the Murrieta Southwest Justice Center on March 13.
If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison, the Press-Enterprise reports.
