TUSD dance teacher arrested for sexual conduct with minor
Reporter: Maggie Vespa
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - They are the people you trust to keep your kids safe, but 9OYS has learned one TUSD teacher is behind bars, accused of taking advantage of that trust by taking advantage of someone who is underage.
As if this is not bad enough, parents say the district is doing its best to keep them in the dark.
District officials and Tucson police both declined to comment Monday. This, almost a week after the Sahuaro High School teacher was taken into custody.
28 year-old Charlie Luna was arrested Wednesday, November 28th. He is charged with one count of 'sexual conduct with a minor.'
He's being held on $100,000 bond and is due in court Tuesday morning.
TUSD confirmed Luna is an 'independent contractor' with the district. He teaches dance, an elective class, at Sahuaro High.
9OYS also found videos and websites online indicating Luna has been teaching youth dance classes in the Tucson area for years.
Parent Jacqueline Carolin says her 14 year-old daughter, a dance student of Luna's, was one of several kids called out of class Monday morning.
She says investigators questioned them, one by one, about their contact with Luna.
Carolin found out about the interview and the arrest when she picked her daughter up from school.
"None of the parents for these dance students have been notified by a phone call, by a letter," she said. "Like I said, they can call you the same day if you don't call your child out sick that day and say 'Where's your kid?', but for the last two weeks, you've been investigating him in the presence of my daughter, and you have not told us?"
We spoke to several other parents via phone, who say they feel the same way.
TUSD administrators told 9OYS they couldn't comment on Luna's case, since it is an open investigation.
It's a process they are all too familiar with. You may remember, back in July a former wrestling coach turned security guard at TUSD's Tucson High was charged with the very same crime, after authorities caught him in the act, assaulting a then 15 year-old girl. He has since pleaded not guilty.
Back to Luna, one TUSD official did say that "to the best of her knowledge" the victim in this case was not a student in the district, but she would not confirm that officially.
Meantime, officials say Luna has been in and out of work lately for personal reasons.
They would not comment on whether his position with the district has changed as a result of his arrest.
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