WFISD responds to sexual assault allegations

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Jorge Maldonado, 18 years old, has been charged with sexually assaulting two of his classmates during school hours. Now, WFISD Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee is addressing those allegations.

“They had already went to WFPD which is the Wichita Falls Police Department, not our police department,” said WFISD Superintendent Dr. Donny Lee.

Dr. Lee said they were first made aware of the alleged sexual assault after the victim’s mother called the school. She explained that her daughter was raped inside a classroom on January 30th. Dr. Lee said the family had already gone to Wichita Falls Police and were not interested in talking.

However, they were able to sit down with Maldonado. On February 8th, this student, the alleged assault was questioned by the campus administration.

Dr. Lee said they decided to suspend Maldonado for three days based on their investigation.

“Just because you’re alleged to commit an assault does not mean you are guilty and we can discipline you and kick you out off the campus. According to our policy, we have to have permissive removal and so a student may be removed from class and placed in DAP based on conduct occurring on or off campus if we have reasonable belief that it happened,” explained Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee said the second girl accusing Maldonado of rape was first questioned back in October 2022 after a woman reached out to school officials stating her niece had sexual intercourse with an unknown male at school. The victim was questioned by WFISD PD and the high school principal but she denied the allegations.

“We can’t investigate an issue that is being invalided by the very person that is supposed to be happening against then you fast forward to March 3rd and this is the same kid,” said Dr. Lee.

On March 1st, Maldonado was arrested and a few days later, the second victim came forward accusing Maldonado of sexual assault.

“She felt like comfortable coming out say last year, I was a victim of sexual assault by this same student. So it gave her the courage,” added Dr. Lee.

After Maldonado’s first arrest, he was transferred to Denver Alternative Center to complete his studies. As for moving forward...

“How can we get better? How can we prevent situations like this from happening? We’re always looking to ensure that our kids are safe and that’s our top priority,” expressed Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee was asked why the classroom was unlocked and he said that the district would look into this aspect and how they can prevent situations like this in the future.

Maldonado was arrested again on May 24th.

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