‘It’s a gut punch’: Alabama community shocked by teacher’s arrest for soliciting student

ONEONTA, Ala. ( WIAT ) – An Oneonta City Schools teacher was arrested Monday and charged with soliciting a student for a sexual act, which is a misdemeanor in the state of Alabama.

Luis Vazquez, 29, of Oneonta, made bond Wednesday afternoon. Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said Vazquez was a science teacher at Oneonta Middle School and a soccer coach.

According to the Oneonta City Schools website, Vazquez is listed as the head coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams on the high school’s page.

“I will not tolerate this type of behavior out of our employees,” Oneonta City Schools Superintendent Craig Sosebee said. “We’re shocked by this because every teacher when they’re hired, they go through background checks.”

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office did not specify whether the student was a boy or girl but says the student was younger than 19 and under Vazquez’s authority.

“In our new teacher meetings, faculty meetings and coaches meetings, we discuss maintaining the correct teacher-student rapport along with appropriate ways of communicating with our students,” Sosebee said. “We’re very disappointed and heartbroken because our school is full of trustworthy, hard-working teachers and staff who are excited to start a new year. We intend to deal with this head-on, being as transparent as possible.”

Sosebee says a confidential report was made about the alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationship and the information was immediately turned over to law enforcement.

“I can’t stress enough how important seeing something and saying something is because our student safety is paramount to us,” Sosebee said.

Sheriff Moon said the investigation began on July 19. Moon said after evidence was collected, Vazquez was placed on a 48-hour hold pending charges. After being Mirandized, Moon said Vazquez admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

“[Oneonta City Schools and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office] want nothing but safety and protection for all students, faculty, staff, that’s going to be on campus and if there is a situation where there is either, whether it be a physical violence threat or something of this nature, we’re going to address it and we’re going to put a stop to it as quickly as possible,” Moon said. “It was important to let everybody know that this has been addressed before students get on campus.”

Sosebee said Vazquez has been placed on administrative leave, where he will remain until the investigation is complete and the correct action can then be taken. Sosebee says mental health resources are available for anyone involved in the situation.

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office said investigators don’t believe any other students to be involved but encourage anyone who may be a victim to come forward.

“It’s devastating, specifically for small towns, like just about every town in Blount County is a small town,” Moon said. “It’s devastating when something like this happens because everybody is so tight-knit, you know, everybody knows everybody. It’s just a close-knit family and when something like this happens, it’s a gut punch. It hurts.”

Some in Oneonta are stunned by Vazquez’s arrest.

“I didn’t think anything bad about him. He was very inspirational, very motivating, so I never, I didn’t expect it at all,” rising Oneonta High School senior Elsa Flores said.

Flores says she’s tried out for the soccer team in the past and her younger sister wanted to go out for the team this year. While she didn’t know Vazquez well, she said she didn’t feel unsafe whenever she had been around him.

“You don’t know anybody really,” Flores said. “You think you do but you don’t.”

Moon says the student involved is doing as well as can be expected. This is not the first time allegations like this have been made against a teacher in the county and each time it happens, he says it hurts the whole community.

“If we can be proactive in this and really seek after the ones who are trying to victimize our most precious resources, which is our children, we want to stop that immediately,” Moon said. “It’s important for me as a sheriff and for us here at this department to let anybody out there who thinks that they might can get away with this kind of crime, who thinks that they might can do this thing and slide under the radar, you need to know that we’re coming after you with everything we have.”

Moon says Vazquez is being represented by David Dobson. CBS 42 reached out to Dobson for comment but has not heard back.

The first day of class for Oneonta City Schools is Thursday.

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