An elementary school worker was taken into custody after authorities received reports of sexual activity in a parked car.
According to a statement from the Santa Ana Police Department, 32-year-old Mariano Hernandez, who works as a Behavior Interventionalist at Benson Elementary in Santa Ana, California, was arrested after authorities received reports of sexual activity in the backseat of a parked car.
Officers responded to the call at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and, upon arriving at the scene, discovered a vehicle “occupied by a male and a female in the backseat.”
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Hernandez was inside the vehicle with a 16-year-old girl, who was identified as a student at Foothill High School within the Tustin Unified School District, in the same district that Hernandez worked.
The two were found approximately six miles west of the high school.
According to police, the victim and Hernandez admitted to meeting at the high school and being in a relationship “for a few weeks.”
Hernandez was promptly taken into custody and booked into the Santa Ana Jail on various sexual assault charges.
Due to the nature of the crimes, detectives believe there may be additional victims of Hernandez and have released his photo in hopes that anyone with additional information about this investigation will reach out to authorities.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Det. M. Tapia at 714-245-8379 or by email at mtapia@santa-ana.org. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the Orange County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 855-TIP-OCCS.
