Muffles College Counsellor Arrested in Student Misconduct Investigation

Police have confirmed the arrest of a school counsellor at Muffles College as they investigate an allegation of misconduct involving a seventeen-year-old female student.

ASP Stacy Smith briefed the media today on the investigation so far.

Stacey Smith, ACP, Belize Police Department: “Police have formally arrested and charged Hayden Mendes, 31 years of age, a Belizean counselor for the crimes of sexual assault and encouraging child pornography. The investigation began when officers came across a screenshot circulating on social media which suggested explicit conduct between this individual and a student. As a consequence of this, the investigators visited the institution whereby they apprised them of their discovery and they also made contact with the parent of the child and the child and involved the human services department. A number of statements were recorded, a number of items of exhibits were retrieved and as a consequence of that investigation, the charges as stated were laid. Mr. Mendez was taken to court today where he was granted bail. There are only a few offenses that magistrates do not have the discretion to grant bail. And ultimately, the consideration when it comes to the granting of bail is whether the person, the likelihood of the person would be to appear for the trial and where that is high, the decision often times leans to the granting of bail. But certainly the granting of bail is not dispositive of the court’s attitude as it relates to the case or its seriousness are lack thereof. It is just a matter of the procedure. If the allegations are as they are alleged to be it pertains to certainly an instance of breach of trust because this was not any old adult that the child was communicating with. It was an adult that the child came in contact with at a school and I will also say that the concurrent investigation is being done as it relates to certain actions or lack thereoff on the part of the administration.”

The arrest follows the college’s announcement that it had placed a staff member on administrative leave. The school says it received the report on October 6 and that police and the Department of Social Services are investigating.  In its statement, the administration said it would cooperate fully with investigators, noting the distress the allegation has caused among students, parents and staff.