Student Gets Prison for Attack on Teacher

(Austin, Texas) An 18-year-old student at Reagan High School, Nathan Manuel Mendoza, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for attacking a teacher with a pair of scissors and groping her in October 2006.

In accordance with a plea agreement, Mendoza pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon. In exchange, the prosecution dropped charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault.

Also part of the sentence is the requirement for Mendoza to register as a sex offender which is interesting since he was already a registered sex offender. Mendoza was classified as a sex offender for being indecent with a 4-year-old girl in 2002. For some reason, the teacher who was attacked by Mendoza was unaware of the risk he posed.

The October incident highlighted confusion over who was supposed to notify schools when sex offenders enroll. Before the incident, Austin police gave the school district monthly lists of juvenile sex offenders registered in Austin; afterward, police changed their policy to alert school officials about juvenile registered sex offenders immediately.

Mendoza's attorney, Berkley Bettis, said both the teacher and Mendoza are victims. Bettis blames the Texas Youth Commission for releasing Mendoza to the public school system. I think Bettis is comparing apples and oranges. Equating a violent attack on the teacher to an administrative problem is ludicrous.

Nevertheless, the root problem in this case is inadequate tracking and notification of the presence of known sex offenders and the deficiencies are not unique to Austin nor Texas. Jurisdictions throughout the nation are having difficulties in monitoring sex offenders.

Ominously, Mendoza will be eligible for parole in six years. Therefore, it's possible that he'll be back on the street at the age of 24, likely just as dangerous.