A former Albuquerque Public Schools teacher now indicted on charges he had sex with children prompted a local television news station to look into the "red flags" in the case.
Danny Christopher Aldaz, 45, is being housed on a pretrial hold in the E-Unit of Bernalillo County's Metropolitan Detention Center on allegations that he's a serial child sexual abuser. The mother of one of his alleged victims spoke with KOB4 for their investigative report published Aug. 3.
The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, told the news station that Aldaz forced her daughter into inappropriate touching in January of last year.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department booking photo of former Albuquerque Public Schools second-grade teacher Danny Aldaz
| bernco.gov/bernalillo-county-sheriff/
"She was seven at the time in second grade, it was her first year at that school," the mother said in the investigative report. "At the beginning of the year, she was excited about school and she was comfortable, but after a while, after winter break, is when she let us know."
The girl's story, as well as those told by other children, is what led to Aldaz's initial arrest announced in February by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department following an investigation by the department's Special Victims Unit. Aldaz, who taught at Valle Vista Elementary School, in addition to a children's class at a local yoga studio, was then charged with nine counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and five counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor while in a position of authority.
Aldaz was granted pretrial release shortly after his initial arrest but by mid-June had been arrested twice more on additional criminal charges involving sex with children. By his third arrest, the sheriff's department determined that Aldaz had "taught at multiple schools within the Albuquerque area" since 2005.
Aldaz was indicted by a grand jury on July 2.
KOB4 said it reviewed hundreds of records from the New Mexico Public Education Department, Albuquerque Public Schools, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the courts, that revealed "some major problems that may have allowed Aldaz to prey on young girls."
One of the problems was a large wall near the back of Aldaz's former Valle Vista Elementary classroom in which "Aldaz used a filing a cabinet and a large red blanket to cover one of the exits of that space." Aldaz's victims reportedly were abused in that area, according to the news story.
Another problem was that New Mexico Children’s Youth and Families Department investigated allegations against Aldaz "around the 2017 timeframe" and found some allegations were substantiated, but Aldaz was not removed from his position, the news story said.
School administrators also "didn’t take concerns seriously," the news story said.