Police: CCSD teacher took, shared image of nude special needs student

A Clark County School District teacher took a picture of a nude special needs student and shared it with other teachers, according to police records.

Ray Garcia, 42, was arrested at Hinman Elementary School in Henderson by school district police on Wednesday. The physical education teacher, who has worked in the school district since 2013, was charged with a gross misdemeanor of capturing and disseminating an image of another person’s private area.

The arrest report said Garcia took a picture of a naked male student lying on an exercise mat and texted it to four other Hinman employees along with the message “its hot outside.” The report noted that the student has autism and is nonverbal. Police said Garcia was possibly making a joke, but that all members of the group text were offended by the image and message.

In an interview with police, Garcia said he was aware of the student’s special needs status and took the photo to document the student’s behavior “as a heads up” for other staff members. He said he did not take and send the image for self-gratification, according to the police report.

Garcia’s text was sent on Aug. 18, and an educator notified the school’s principal of the message on Aug. 19, the report said. When police were dispatched to Hinman Elementary on Aug. 19, the principal showed an officer the photo Garcia took and police contacted the other staff members in the group chat. The staff member who notified the principal said seeing the image made them “uncomfortable.”

Garcia is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 24, court records show.

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.