Texas man accused of continuous child sexual abuse arrested
Jesse Martinez and Meghan Lopez
A spokesperson for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Santiago Chavez, 45, was arrested at a business in the 500 block of North Kansas Street.
According to the arrest affidavit, Chavez sexually abused two teenage brothers on a regular basis last year. Those teenagers are 14 and 16 years old.
Deputies began their investigation on Oct. 28 when they spoke with the two victims. The relationship between the victims and Chavez is not known.
One of the victims told authorities that the abuse happened between 10 and 15 times within the past year, according to the arrest affidavit.
Chavez allegedly forced the teenagers to perform oral sex on him or he would perform the act on them. The victims also told police that Chavez raped them regularly. On Nov. 6, detectives tested the boys’ room for forensic evidence. Investigators reportedly found evidence to substantiate the teens’ claims, according to the arrest affidavit.
Chavez is a special education teacher at the elementary school but is currently on administrative leave, according to the Fabens Independent School District. The district’s superintendent told KFOX14 he had been on leave for the past two months.
Parents at Fabens Elementary School said they couldn’t believe that Chavez would be capable of something like this.
“It was like a shocker because he does not seem like he would be that kind of person. He's really good with the kids and everything and it's like I'm just hoping that it's not true,” said America Pena, who has two boys enrolled at the school.
According to Pena, Chavez’s wife is also a teacher at Fabens Elementary and taught one of her sons last year.
“My sons didn't have him for a teacher, but my sons love him. My boys love Mr. Chavez,” she said.
Pena described Chavez as a good teacher and an outstanding member of the community. Other parents told KFOX14 they are still trying to figure out how to address the matter with their kids.
“As a parent, you don't think that you have to talk about something like that to your kids, especially at a school where they are supposed to be protected. Really, you shouldn't be talking about that with your kids because it shouldn't be happening, period,” said Diana Sanchez, the mother of two kids who attend Fabens Elementary.
She said the district did not send out any notification to parents informing them of the situation.
“They should let us know what is happening and let us know if our kids or anyone was around that person, because we want to know if something happened to our kids,” Sanchez said.
Chavez was booked into the county jail on two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child. His bail totaled $500,000.
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