On Tuesday, January 6th, Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives arrested 39-year-old Victor Osvaldo Gomez, a teacher employed by Washington Unified School District.
The investigation began in April 2014 when school officials contacted the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office with information of potential criminal activity. There were allegations that Gomez inappropriately touched female students. School district officials immediately notified the Sheriff’s Office of the allegations.
At the time of the investigation, Gomez was working as a teacher at American Union Elementary School, near Easton. The investigation revealed inappropriate hugging and touching of six female students who were all about 13 years of age and in the 8th grade. The incidents occurred on campus during normal school hours of operation, as well as during the after school program. The acts took place randomly beginning in August 2013 through March 2014, however, the victims did not report the behavior until April.
The acts involved Gomez making inappropriate comments to the girls and touching various body parts on the outside of their clothing. After the Sheriff’s Office conducted a thorough investigation, a judge issued an arrest warrant.
Tuesday evening, detectives located Gomez at his home on the 1900 block of S. Fifth St. in Fresno. Gomez was arrested for six counts of Lewd and Lascivious acts with a 14 / 15 year old and booked into the Fresno County Jail. Bail was set at $180,000. Gomez has since posted bond to bail out of jail and has a court date scheduled for January 21, 2015.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on this case to please contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867).
