A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge has ordered a former Modesto school employee to stand trial on six counts, including five felonies and one misdemeanor, after a preliminary hearing laid out testimony about alleged online contact and a classroom touching incident involving three girls younger than 14. Judge Linda McFadden found sufficient evidence on Wednesday for the case against Lawrence DeAndre Harris to proceed, and his bail remained set at $550,000. The allegations have not been proven at trial.
Harris worked as a paraprofessional at La Loma Junior High School and also coached football and basketball at Downey High School, according to the Modesto Bee, which reported his age as 24. A separate account from KCRA listed his age as 23 at the time of his arrest; the discrepancy between the two reports has not been resolved. Harris was arrested on Jan. 20 following a police investigation into allegations involving the three girls, and he pleaded not guilty to the original charges at his arraignment that month.
Testimony Details Alleged Messages and Photos
During the preliminary hearing, Detective Jesus Salinas testified that Harris acknowledged sending sexually explicit photographs and videos to two students, the Modesto Bee's report notes. Salinas said Harris initially communicated with one girl through TikTok in November 2025 before their conversations moved to Snapchat, and that Harris sent her photographs of himself, sexually explicit videos, and an image depicting his genitals obscured by an eggplant emoji. The detective testified that Harris also asked the girl to send photographs of herself and requested to meet her in person.
According to the same testimony, Harris denied acting out of sexual attraction to the girls and instead described struggling with a pornography addiction. Per the account, a separate 13-year-old student reported receiving one sexually explicit Snapchat photograph from Harris on Dec. 19, 2025, according to Officer Samartha Patel. That student said Harris had approached her at La Loma about tutoring before obtaining her Snapchat information, then blocked him after receiving the messages and disclosed the incident to her mother two days later. Testimony indicated Harris later approached the student to apologize on Jan. 16.
Classroom Touching Allegation Also Moves Forward
A third student reported that Harris placed his hands on her arms and put his hand on her thigh while she was seated in a classroom at La Loma, Patel testified, adding that the contact made the student uncomfortable. McFadden found sufficient evidence for that touching allegation to proceed as well. Deputy District Attorney Vita Palazuelos argued that touching a student's thigh was unrelated to Harris's duties as an educational aide, per the same report, and asked that any potential additional victims contact the Modesto Police Department.
Modesto City Schools officials said Harris had served as a junior varsity football assistant coach during the 2025 season and as head coach of Downey High's freshman boys basketball team for 2025-26. District officials said Harris was removed from campus after his January arrest and no longer has access to school or district property. KCRA's report adds that Harris was first hired as a substitute paraprofessional in February 2025 before being hired as an instructional paraprofessional that November.
Next Court Date Set for Nov. 19
Harris is scheduled to return to Stanislaus County Superior Court on Nov. 19 at 8:30 a.m. for arraignment on the information, following Wednesday's ruling that the case against him will proceed to trial on all six counts.
