A jury is slated to be seated before week’s end for the trial of an ex-substitute teacher in the Coachella Valley accused of perpetrating lewd acts during online contact with a female student, as well as sexually assaulting a relative’s girlfriend.
Edward Noel Alvarado Valadez, 31, of Coachella was arrested in 2019 following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
Valadez is charged with exhibiting harmful matter to a minor, sexual penetration with a foreign object and annoying a child. He’s free on a $10,000 bond.
Jury selection for Valadez’s trial got underway toward the end of last week at the Banning Justice Center. Superior Court Judge Jonathan Mendoza was expected to swear in a panel before Friday.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, Valadez was a substitute educator for the Coachella Valley Unified School District, and in November 2019, while supervising a special education class at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, he became acquainted with a girl identified only as “A.S.”
The youth later told family members that Valadez added himself, without permission, to her social media accounts, following her on Snapchat and other channels, according to the brief.
In the predawn hours of Dec. 1, 2019, the defendant allegedly placed a video call to the girl via Snapchat, and she answered. In the ensuing conversation, subjects ranged from smoking marijuana to “how her relationship was going downhill” with her boyfriend “and her virginity,” the brief stated.
“The defendant then pulled out his (penis pump) tube and used it to make his `(expletive) bigger and thicker,”’ according to the narrative. “The defendant asked her if she wanted to see it in action and asked if it was the biggest she had seen.”
A.S. was immediately uncomfortable and “tried to change the subject,” but Valadez was allegedly persistent, staying on the same topic until the teenager abruptly ended the call, the brief stated.
The following morning, he allegedly instant-messaged the victim, asking whether she was impressed about “last night,” the prosecution said. The girl then went to family and authorities, culminating in sheriff’s detectives setting up a recorded “pretext phone call,” in which the girl was told to restart the conversation with Valadez to determine whether he would make any admissions.
During the conversation, the defendant became suspicious, asking the youth to remove him from all her social media contacts because “they can probably search those things,” according to court papers.
When he was questioned by investigators on Dec. 5, 2019, Valadez initially evaded questions about the interaction with A.S., suggesting the video images she saw were of another man and that his cousin was the owner of the “pump,” according to the prosecution. However, after a search warrant was served at the defendant’s residence, the device was seized from his bedroom dresser drawer, prosecutors alleged.
Valadez was arrested without incident but soon after posted bail and was released from custody.
He was immediately suspended from his job in the school district, then dismissed weeks later. He had been employed in the substitute teaching position for about 10 months.
On March 20, 2021, while still awaiting trial for the lewd acts case, Valadez connected with his brother’s girlfriend, identified only as “G.A.,” to help her plan a birthday party for the man, according to the brief.
She returned to his apartment, where they played video games and drank alcoholic beverages until 1 a.m. the following morning, prosecutors said. Valadez began to kiss the woman’s neck as she began to feel inebriated, prompting her to get up to leave, the brief said.
“The defendant convinced her to stay because she was too intoxicated,” according to the narrative. “He laid her down on his bed and continued to kiss her neck. She tried to tell the defendant to stop but couldn’t push him off because of how intoxicated she was.”
He pulled down her pants, at which point the woman rolled over and vomited on the floor — which didn’t stop Valadez from then grabbing her breast and continued kissing her, prosecutors alleged.
The brief alleged that he penetrated her with his fingers, which she felt before completely passing out.
When the woman awoke four hours later, she discovered she was disrobed from the waist down, while the defendant was resting next to her fully clothed, according to the brief.
After she dressed, Valadez walked her to her vehicle, asking her “if she remembered anything,” to which she responded no, leading him to advise that if she did recall anything “it was probably in her head,” the brief said.
The woman conveyed her alleged experiences to law enforcement sometime later, culminating in additional charges being filed against the defendant.
He has no documented prior felony convictions.