San Antonio Express-News

EX-SAISD teacher is indicted in student solicitati­on case

- By Elizabeth Zavala

A Bexar County grand jury has indicted a former San Antonio Independen­t School District middle school teacher who was arrested in 2023 after officials reportedly found sexually explicit videos and photos shared between him and a student.

Lloyd Pegues, 50, was indicted Wednesday on two counts of online solicitati­on of a minor under the age of 14, according to a statement released late Wednesday by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.

The investigat­ion of Pegues began in June 2022 when the San Antonio Police Department’s Human Exploitati­on Unit received a call from a parent of the student who had found images and text messages, police said.

Pegues taught at Rhodes Middle School. Detectives were able to get a warrant for Pegues’ arrest after a six-month investigat­ion. By then, Pegues had resigned after the school district began its own investigat­ion.

“We entrust teachers with the education of our children. This allegation, if proven true, is a betrayal of that trust,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales said in the statement. “The safety of our children has always been a priority for our office, and we will vigorously prosecute this case.”

Online solicitati­on of a minor is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

Authoritie­s have not said where the victim attended school, but the indictment includes an enhancemen­t paragraph that alleges Pegues was employed at a public secondary school during the commission of the offense and knew the victim was enrolled at a public secondary school. Should a judge or jury find that to be true, the punishment would increase to that of a first-degree felony, five to 99 years or life in prison, according to the statement.

Pegues, who is free on bond, has a trial setting set for Friday before Judge Kristina Escalona in the 186th District Court. Online court records indicate his court-appointed attorney is Orlando Castañon.

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