Following arrest of former educator, Scotty’s House shares how to discuss sexual assault with kids

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Following the news of a former teacher’s arrest, parents may be left wondering how to answers questions from their kids or even signs to look for that something inappropriate is happening.

College Station Police say Jose Adrian Hernandez Grimaldo is accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old student. The incident allegedly happened last year at the International Leadership of Texas K-8 campus on Longmire Drive. Hernandez Grimaldo was a 6th grade Spanish teacher at the College Station charter school at that time.

Alison Pourteau, the Director of Clinical Services at Scotty’s House, joined News 3 at Six to discuss how parents can approach conversations that may be brought about by this incident.

Scotty’s House is a local nonprofit Child Advocacy Center. The organization is based in Bryan, but serves the entire Brazos Valley. They provide initial needs assessments, forensic interviews and medical evaluations, and counseling for child abuse victims.

Pourteau says if parents are having a conversation with their kids about sexual abuse, they should make sure it’s at an age appropriate level.

“For younger kids it might just be talking about nobody should touch you where your bathing suit covers,” she explained. “For older kids, it’s a really good opportunity to get more in depth into things like abuse occurs by people – most likely – that you know. It’s going to happen very gradually.”

According to police, Hernandez Grimaldo, the former teacher at ILTexas, had multiple incidents where he touched students in a “way that made them feel uncomfortable.” This allegedly included touching a student’s belly button and playing with another student’s hair.

Pourteau suggests telling your kids, “‘if you ever feel uncomfortable, even if it seems simple, like somebody rubbed your back, they touched your hair. If you’re not comfortable, let’s talk about it.’”

She says to keep in mind that if a child is being abused, they likely won’t tell the whole story right away.

“If a parent is calm, makes the child feel like they’re not in trouble, then they’re going to be more willing to tell the rest of the story.”

If a parent is worried that something is not right with their child, Pourteau recommends going ahead and calling CPS or law enforcement.

“Let a professional talk to that child to find out what’s going on. Because again, it can be very difficult for a parent not to want to dig for answers to find out what happened, but they may scare their child. The child may think that they’re in trouble. Somebody else may have told the child they’re going to be in trouble if they tell. So sometimes it’s just easier to let a professional talk to that child. And ideally we find out that nothing has happened. But better to be safe and give that child an opportunity to speak.”

Watch the full interview in the player above.

Call Scotty’s House at 979-703-8813 for more information or visit their website.