THE WOODLANDS, Texas – An IT employee at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and School in The Woodlands was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the sexual assault of a child.
According to court documents, Ronald M. See was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14.
Court documents showed that Ronald M. See was a close family friend. The victim’s mother told authorities her 13- and 8-year-old daughters spent the night at See’s home in Willis on Saturday, according to court documents.
When she picked them up Sunday, the 8-year-old told her mother that her sister had spent the night and most of the morning in See’s bedroom, according to court records.
Authorities said the victim’s mother questioned her daughter who told her she had gotten scared during the night and had gone into See’s room and slept on the floor. When the mother questioned See, he told her that he had slept on the floor and her daughter slept in the bed, court documents showed.
This made the girl’s mother suspicious, so she took her daughter’s phone, according to legal records. On the teen’s phone, her mother found an app that contained conversations between her daughter and See that were “very disturbing in nature,” according to the documents. The mother said See was chatting with the teen as if she was his “girlfriend or lover,” according to court documents. The mother also found exchanges of inappropriate pictures between See and her daughter, according to court documents.
During a forensic interview, the teen confessed that she had been chatting with See for about two weeks and when she spent the night at his house, See woke her up and took her to his room where he performed sexual acts on her, according to court documents.
Court documents also showed that authorities found messages where See and the teen were talking about looking at wedding rings and marriage.
According to the church, See had been an employee at the church for 14 years. He was suspended without pay and his duties did not involve him working around minors, according to the church.
Diocese’s statement
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston released the following statement about See’s arrest:
“Ronald M. See, an IT employee of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and School (SAOP) in The Woodlands for 14 years, was arrested yesterday and has been charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and Online Solicitation of a Minor. The victim was not a student at SAOP school and was not involved in the parish.
“SAOP has suspended Mr. See without pay. His job responsibilities did not include working with minors. He submitted to three criminal background checks by the parish as an employee, with the most recent in 2018. We have contacted the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office and have assured them of our complete cooperation in its investigation and prosecution of this matter.
“If you have any information that could assist law enforcement authorities, please contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit at 936-538-3502.”