A former Tanglewood Middle School teacher has entered a guilty plea to indecency with a child after being charged with multiple felonies involving inappropriate sexual conduct with a student.
READ: Tanglewood teacher charged with multiple felonies, accused of indecent acts with 14-year-old
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Dale Vanwright, who was a teacher at Tanglewood Middle School in the Houston Independent School District, was sentenced to deferred adjudication of guilty with 10 years probation.
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All other charges like improper relationship with a student, indecency with a child sexual contact, and sexual performance by child employee/authority indecent, have been dismissed.
What happened
The allegations came to light after a 14-year-old female student reported she began communicating with Vanwright via FaceTime in October 2023. The girl, who was dating one of Vanwright’s family members said Vanwright would drive her home from school on multiple occasions.
During a forensic interview at the Harris County Children’s Assessment Center on June 6, 2024, the girl detailed how Vanwright asked her to expose her breasts and perform sexual acts on herself while he watched on FaceTime.
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She also recounted an incident on May 8, 2024, when Vanwright allegedly pulled over into an empty parking lot and inappropriately touched her.
Vanwright has denied any inappropriate physical contact but admitted to communicating with the girl on the phone. He was suspended from his teaching position on March 1, 2024, due to another allegation involving inappropriate conduct with a different student.
