Bowie High School teacher arrested for sexual relationship with student

Austin police have arrested a Bowie High School teacher who they said had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. 

23-year-old Erica Dinora Gomez has been charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student. 

The high school held a meeting Tuesday to address parents concerns following the case. AISD police said about 40 parents attended the meeting. 

Austin police said they do not believe any additional students were involved. 

“It’s not something that we see everyday,” said Detective Brandon Poe with Austin Police Department’s child abuse unit. 

Austin police said Gomez admitted to having sex with the student at least four times. Two of those times they were in her car outside of the apartment where the victim lived with his mother. 

“This was a relationship that developed over a short period of time while Erica Gomez was a student teacher,” Poe said. 

The crime was reported to police after the boy’s mother found explicit messages between the two on his Snapchat account. 

“I did interview her and there was a confession and the confession corroborated the information that had been provided by the victim,” said Poe. 

Police said Gomez met the victim in January when she tutored him in math but their sexual relationship started in August. 

Gomez also worked as a math teacher at Bowie high school where the victim is a student. 

“There is no reason for us to believe, based upon the investigation, that any other students were involved,” Poe said. 

Austin ISD has placed Gomez on administrative leave in light of the charges.  

Students at Bowie High School said Gomez was a very quiet, shy teacher and they are surprised by the charges. 

Detectives said the victim’s parents had been proactive in checking his social media accounts, which, they said, has been playing a bigger role in inappropriate student teacher relationships in recent years. 

“We tell everybody, ‘Just make sure that you’re monitoring social media sites and accounts and stuff like that,’” said Poe.  

AISD police said they are taking steps to help students and the victim process what happened. 

“The district made counselors available to our faculty and our students, if they have concerns or they’re sad, they can talk about it. The principal has been in touch with the family today, checking in on them, and we’ll continue to monitor that and offer them whatever assistance they need,” said AISD Police Chief Ashley Gonzalez. 

Gomez’s bond is currently set at $75,000.

Both of her charges are second degree felonies, punishable by two to 20 years in prison.