Student recants claims she had sex with Garza

No charges filed against former Moses Lake teacher

MOSES LAKE — A 16 year-old Moses Lake girl allegedly told friends she had sex with her high school Spanish teacher, became pregnant and had an abortion.

The girl reportedly admitted to police investigators on May 3 she had consensual sex with former Moses Lake Spanish teacher Alex Garza, 25, and later tested positively for pregnancy using a home pregnancy test, according to police investigative reports obtained by KREM 2 and the Columbia Basin Herald.

She allegedly told police a second test was negative.

In a later interview with investigators, the girl recanted the story saying she felt pressured to admit to having sex with her teacher. She reportedly told the investigator she lied because she was "freaked out" by the idea she could go to jail.

"(The girl) looked very nervous and said she wanted to correct the statement she had given me the last time we talked," wrote a police investigator in the report. "(The girl) said her friends assumed that she had sex with Garza and she let them believe it. As far as being pregnant, she said she lied about that as well."

No charges have been filed against Garza in Grant County Superior Court as of Friday morning, according to the clerk's office staff.

The Columbia Basin Herald was unable to reach deputy prosecutor Carolyn Fair for comment. She is the prosecutor responsible for making a determination on whether or not to file charges against Garza.

"We hope the prosecutor reviews the case very carefully and there are some charges," said Moses Lake Police Chief Dean Mitchell. "There are some incidents needing to be looked into."

During the investigation, police discovered three letters reportedly written by the girl. The letters allegedly show the girl admitting to having sex with Garza, being pregnant and having an abortion.

"I asked (the girl) why she wrote the letters to her friends and told them she had sex with Alex Garza," the investigator wrote. "(The girl) said she finally agreed with her friends that she had sex with Garza because they kept bothering her about it."

The girl reportedly spoke to four 16-year-old friends, telling them the same story about Garza, the pregnancy and abortion, according to the reports. She allegedly asked them for advice on what to do about being pregnant and the relationship with Garza.

Police reportedly sought to interview Garza during the investigation, but he declined and referred them to his attorney Sal Mendoza of Kennewick.

"We're disappointed we didn't get a chance to talk with him," said Mitchell.

Mendoza said he has not seen the police reports.

"We haven't been given anything," Mendoza said. "As soon as we get the police records, we can comment … we have been kept in the dark throughout the investigation."

The police investigation began at the request of the Moses Lake School District. The district has since declined to renew Garza's employment contract for another school year, according to Special Assistant to the Superintendent P.J. De Benedetti. Garza still has the opportunity to appeal the school district's decision.

De Benedetti said the school district has not seen the police reports.