A Phoenix teacher is behind bars after being accused of carrying on an illicit affair with an underage student, authorities reported this week. Ernesto Moncada-Cota, a 50-year-old educator at the Arizona Conservatory for the Arts and Academics Secondary School, was taken into custody following a police investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct.
The school's administrators first caught wind of the troubling situation on January 2, swiftly alerting the local authorities who then interviewed the reported victim, during which they uncovered enough evidence to warrant Moncada-Cota's arrest, as per FOX 10 Phoenix. He is now facing multiple felony charges that include the grave offense of sexual misconduct with a minor.
In a press release, the Phoenix Police Department has issued a call to action, urging parents to have critical conversations with their children about the boundaries of adult and student relationships "The Phoenix Police Department encourages all parents to discuss with their children the nature of what an appropriate and inappropriate relationship with an adult looks like,” suggested the authorities, as noted in a news update from AZ Central.
Moncada-Cota, now booked into jail, awaits due process as the investigation continues its course.
