Napa School Employee Accused Of Inappropriate Conduct With Minor: PD

NAPA, CA — An employee of the Napa Valley Unified School District was arrested last week on multiple charges related to inappropriate conduct with a minor, police and school officials said.

According to police, a school resource officer with the Napa Police Department was notified May 18 by administrators at New Tech High School about an inappropriate incident between a juvenile victim and a school employee who was later identified as Jayro Alexis Esparza-Garcia, 23, of Napa.

The officer conducted a preliminary investigation which police allege uncovered a series of sexually explicit and suggestive electronic communications between the victim and Esparza-Garcia while he worked as a substitute campus supervisor at New Tech High.

"Detectives from the Investigations and Youth Service Bureaus followed up with the victim and confirmed the suspect engaged in child sexual exploitation and had sexually inappropriate electronic communication with the victim," Napa police Lt. Veronica Rodrigues said.

Detectives later located Esparza-Garcia in Napa. He was interviewed and subsequently arrested and booked at the Napa County Detention Center on May 23 on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sending harmful material, meeting a minor for lewd purposes, contact with a minor for a sexual offense, furnishing marijuana to a minor, annoying a child and obscene matter.

Esparza-Garcia remained in custody Tuesday with his bail set at $100,000, Napa County jail records showed.

No Longer Employed By NVUSD

In addition to his role at New Tech High, Esparza-Garcia also worked as a freshman boys basketball coach at Napa High School. As of May 24, he was no longer employed at any NVUSD, the Napa Valley Unified School District said in a message to the NVUSD community, District Spokesperson Julie Bordes told Patch.

"Due to the sensitive nature and concerns of jeopardizing the investigation, NPD provided details today to NVUSD once the suspect was arrested and securely in custody," the district said in the May 24 message. "Out of an abundance of caution, additional details were not provided to NVUSD until NPD further investigated and ultimately arrested the individual."

The message continued: "The safety and care of our students and staff is our top priority. In speaking with your student, if you feel they need additional support, they can visit our school nurse, speak with a counselor, or utilize one of our other support services here: Napa Mental Health Referral Information and Community Resources. Additional resources will be shared as necessary.

"While we cooperate with law enforcement, we will continue to keep you informed as we are able, and we ask anyone with questions or information about the investigation to contact the Napa Police Department directly. We remain incredibly thankful for the partnership we have in place with our students, parent community, and the Napa Police Department to keep our staff and students safe."

Napa police asked anyone with additional information pertaining to the case was asked to contact Detective Darlene Elia at 707-257-7880, ext. 5211.

Editor's Note: This story was updated June 1 with information pertaining to Esparza-Garcia's employment with the Napa Valley Unified School District.