Riverside County Sheriff’s Department cruiser. File photo: Toni McAllister
A Hemet High School teacher accused of engaging in sex acts with a female student was charged Wednesday with two counts of lewd acts on a minor.
Miguel Angel Chavez Lopez, 27, of Riverside, was arrested Monday morning following a Riverside County sheriff’s investigation.
The age of the victim wasn’t disclosed.
Lopez was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and is slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the adjacent Southwest Justice Center.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Reichle, deputies were alerted last week to possible illicit behavior involving Lopez and the girl.
Reichle alleged the acts occurred during the 2017-18 academic year, though he did not specify where they took place.
Detectives interviewed both the student and Lopez, who has been employed as a math teacher at Hemet High since 2016. He was taken into custody without incident in Hemet.
Hemet Unified School District spokeswoman Alexandrea Sponheim told City News Service that, effective Wednesday, Lopez is on paid administrative leave.
“We take the accusations in this case very seriously,” Sponheim said. “We strive to provide a safe learning environment for our students, and we want the public to know that we are conducting an internal personnel investigation that is in addition to the law enforcement investigation.”
Lopez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!