A former teacher at an all-girls school in Grand Prairie ISD was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to sex crime charges stemming from an inappropriate relationship he had with a minor.
Matthew Ramos, 34, was employed as a middle school teacher at Young Women’s Leadership Academy at Arnold, where he allegedly began a relationship with one of his former students who was attending high school in a separate building on the same campus, according to CBS News Texas.
He and the 16-year-old reportedly exchanged nude photos and sexually explicit text messages.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Ramos was arrested in November 2021 after district officials got wind of the relationship a month prior and reported it to authorities.
Ramos resigned and was held in Grand Prairie jail on a bond of $50,000. He was charged with maintaining an improper relationship with a student while working as an educator, a second-degree felony.
Although he initially denied the relationship, Ramos later confessed to being in love with the girl. After investigators uncovered the texts and nude photos on Ramos’ phone, they charged him with online solicitation of a minor, a third-degree felony.
Ramos was sentenced to 15 years for the improper relationship charge and an additional 10 years for online solicitation. Judge Cindy Ermatinger issued the sentences on September 21 and ordered that they be served concurrently, Irving Weekly reported.
Late last year, another educator at Grand Prairie ISD was charged with having an improper relationship with a student, as previously covered by The Dallas Express. Kenrick Burns, 28, was a football coach and teacher until allegations surfaced of his alleged sexual misconduct with an 18-year-old student.
There has been a string of such offenses reported across North Texas this year.
For instance, a substitute teacher was flagged for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student and faced an additional charge of indecency with a child involving sexual contact in Arlington ISD in September.
In June, a former school resource officer at Frisco ISD was arrested on multiple felony charges related to the sexual assault of a child.
Sex crimes, more broadly, have been prevalent in Dallas, with 570 offenses logged this year as of September 29, according to data from the City’s crime overview dashboard. The median age of the victims has been 16, with the vast majority recorded as female.