San Jose middle school teacher accused of molesting student on campus
SAN JOSE — A former teacher was arrested Monday on suspicion that he sexually assaulted a minor on the campus of a San Jose middle school where he was employed more than five years ago, according to authorities.
Police said that 36-year-old Matthew Gonzalez had been arrested Monday. Authorities said the assault happened more than five years ago, when Gonzalez was a teacher at Herbert Hoover Middle School in San Jose.
Police said Gonzalez no longer works for the school. They did not say when he had left employment at Hoover or whether he had been teaching since that time.
Gonzalez also previously taught at Willow Glen Middle School, and was a teaching assistant at the San Jose State University Child Development Center. Police did not specify any allegations related to his time working at either of those facilities.
The investigation began with a report in mid-August, authorities said. After police obtained search and arrest warrants, Gonzalez was arrested Monday on suspicion of sending harmful materials to a minor and for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.
Anyone with information about this case or similar cases is asked to contact Detective Zanotto of the San Jose Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce at [email protected] or 408-900-6564.
The arrest is the second of a sexual nature on a Hoover teacher in as many years. Last September, Trae Devonte Owens, who taught at the school that year, was arrested after he allegedly solicited sexual photos from a student.