Posted on 02/03/2005 6:07:08 PM PST by woofie
SANTA FE— It appears that the former Mesa Vista High School teacher arrested last week for having sex with a student married the pregnant 16-year-old on New Year's Day.
Frank V. Ortiz, 28, exchanged vows with the teenage girl at The Chapel of Dreams in Las Vegas, Nev., according to marriage records.
The Jan. 1 marriage certificate on file at the Clark County, Nev., recorder's office also lists a woman with the same name as the girl's mother as a witness to the wedding.
The police have said the girl's mother and grandparents did not appear to have a problem with Ortiz's relationship with the student.
In the police affidavit for Ortiz's arrest, the mother is quoted as saying "she would rather have her daughter with a person that loves her and (is) going to take care of her than a drug addict from the Valley."
The marriage certificate for Ortiz and the 16-year-old is on record with their names on a Clark County Web site. An employee in the county recorder's office provided additional information from the marriage certificate over the phone.
In Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, Ortiz is charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor, criminal sexual contact of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for his alleged relationship with the girl.
Ortiz has pleaded not guilty, and the girl has denied Ortiz is the father of her unborn child.
The Jan. 1 marriage wasn't noted in any of the police documents for Ortiz's Jan. 26 arrest.
Wednesday, State Police Sgt. Chris Valdez said Ortiz's marriage to the teenage girl will likely have no effect on the criminal charges, because the alleged criminal activity by Ortiz "was prior to him marrying her."
"As long as we can prove the child is his, the charges will stand as they are," Valdez said.
Valdez said last week that once the girl's baby is born, investigators plan to pursue a search warrant for DNA to determine whether Ortiz is the father. The girl's child is due this month.
Ortiz, a Spanish teacher, was placed on paid administrative leave in early November after allegations of sexual misconduct against him surfaced, according to Valdez. Valdez said last week that his agency has been investigating the case since August.
Ortiz recently resigned from his teaching job after learning that the Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools district was planning to terminate him, Valdez has said.
The relationship allegedly occurred while Ortiz was a teacher at the school, and some school officials were apparently aware of it, according to the affidavit for Ortiz's arrest filed last week by State Police Agent Thomas Salazar.
Superintendent Andy Torres said he didn't notify law enforcement because the relationship was only a rumor with nothing to substantiate it.
Ahhh....young love......
Its the water out here
The answer is obvious ... they've exposed the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" to be Flipper ... living in a desert.
Go figger.
Pretty well sums up the state of affairs in NM.
When I was a high school sophomore in a small Louisiana town in the mid-1940s, the teenage wife of our vocational agriculture teacher was a junior. He was a college grad. Naturally, boys would be boys. They were both gone somewhere else the following year.
Well, I suppose he did the right thing.
In a sense, sort of...
"As long as we can prove the child is his, the charges will stand as they are," Valdez said.
Let it go Valdez.
This young woman didn't do anything she didn't want to do. She isn't a little girl who needs or wants your protection, so thinks her & her family. And the State is not a victim.
Drop it and go busy yourself with keeping the U.S. safe for democracy.
,,, help me up off the floor!!! :)
For those of you wishing to send a wedding gift, the bride has registered at Toys-R-Us.
Yeah, at least he's adhering to the "you broke it, you bought it" rule.
"For those of you wishing to send a wedding gift, the bride has registered at Toys-R-Us."
*SNORT* ;)
As prescribed in the Law of Moses.
When I visit Pottery Barn I don't touch stuff.
I certainly don't do that to the crockery.
Ever read "Les Miserables"?
FMCDH(BITS)
I guess she'll just be thrilled when she's lost those youthful looks and her hubby is teaching Spanish classes and has to stay late for some "tutoring."
When he is 70 and she is 58, so what. The child will be 42 !
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