Jury to be seated for trial of ex-instructor accused of lewd acts, rape
City News Service
BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – 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 another woman.
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 sheriff’s arrest warrant declaration filed in December 2019, during the fall of that year, Valadez allegedly began a relationship with a teen girl, whom he contacted multiple times via social media.
At the time, the defendant was employed as a substitute instructional aide at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal.
The declaration alleged Valadez at one point called the victim, whose name was not disclosed, via Snapchat and proceeded to pleasure himself during the video call — exposing everything to the youth.
Investigators alleged the defendant also tried to arrange personal meetings with the girl with the intent of smoking marijuana and engaging in sex acts.
The victim became increasingly uncomfortable with the communications and finally went to campus administrators, divulging her experiences, according to court documents. Sheriff’s detectives then began an investigation that resulted in charges.
On Dec. 5, 2019, Valadez was taken into custody without incident while he was working on the campus of Valle Del Sol Elementary School in Coachella. Afterward, he was dismissed from his CVUSD position. He had worked for the district about 10 months, according to officials.
In March 2021, while still awaiting trial for the lewd acts case, Valadez was accused of sexually assaulting another woman. 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.