Former Cy-Fair ISD paraprofessional charged for improperly touching student
HOUSTON - Another teacher in the Houston area has been charged for having an improper relationship with their student.
Court documents state Ennis Hernandez, 66, is faced with three charges related to having an improper relationship with a student at Cy-Fair ISD while he was employed as a Life Skills In-Class Support Paraprofessional at Cypress Falls High School.
He is faced with two charges of improper relationship with a child, with his bond set at $75,000 for each count, and one charge of sexual performance with a child with a bond set at $50,000. His bond in total is set to $200,000 for all three charges.
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Court reports say an 18-year-old life skills student told school officials Hernandez would touch her breasts and vaginal area on multiple occasions. The student told the Children's Assessment Center the incidents started in September and went on to February.
Ennis Hernandez
The girl was asked by an officer if she was aware of the parts of her body no one was supposed to touch. She became visibly upset and started breathing hard and rocking back and forth, records say.
She eventually pointed to her chest and genital area, then said Hernandez touched her over her clothes while in her classroom, documents say. He also asked her to touch him on one occasion before Christmas break.
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**EDITORS NOTE: This video is from another story. With a growing number of stories about educators caught having improper relationships with their underage students, parents are growing frustrated with what's happening. So what can be done to keep kids safe and what resources are available? FOX 26's Sherman Desselle looks into it.
Documents say Hernandez would show the girl multiple pictures of himself without clothes on and in one instance asked her to send him pictures of her without her clothes on after she got out of the shower.
The pictures he showed the girl included a selfie of Hernandez standing naked showing his genitals, him sitting on a toilet, him lying on a bed naked with a cat next to him, and him in a bedroom naked with his penis and chest out.
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When Hernandez asked the girl to take a selfie, he told her not to say anything about it to her mom. He also asked if she had hair in her vaginal area and to take a picture, so he could see for himself, court records say.
Hernandez allowed authorities to do a forensic search of his phone and in the search, officials found numerous pictures of him naked or pictures of his genitals. Court documents say they also found pictures of the Life Skills students, including a picture of the student who reported Hernandez, a picture of a cat on the man's stomach with his bare legs and a portion of his genitals visible, and a picture of Hernandez standing in a room with his shirt open, revealing his penis with a picture hanging on the wall.
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The pictures are said to be similar to what the student said she saw on his phone.
Hernandez appeared in court on Thursday where he had his bond set.
CyFair ISD released this statement:
Mr. Ennis Hernandez was hired on Jan. 3, 2007, as a paraprofessional at Cypress Falls High School. Mr. Hernandez was placed on administrative leave on Feb. 27, 2023, pending a complete investigation by campus administration and law enforcement, after Cypress Falls High School administration was made aware of allegations of an improper relationship with a student. Mr. Hernandez submitted his resignation effective March 28, 2023.