YES Prep East End Teacher Accused of Sexual Assault

A former YES Prep East End teacher was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 16-year-old student, according to KHOU.com. 23-year-old physics teacher Ajay Kumar Mangal had charges of sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between teach and student filed against him on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Mangal met the 16-year-old girl in September at YES Prep East End, a charter school designed to help low-income students get into college. Mangal and the girl became friends after he noticed her dancing at another teacher's going away party. According to KHOU.com, Mangal and the girl began calling, texting and writing to each other. They discussed the potential consequences of meeting up, her being underage and him being a teacher, but decided to anyway, on Sept. 16, 2011.

Mangal picked up the girl that day and took her McDonald's, then back to his apartment in Houston, Texas. They had sexual contact, then went out to buy condoms and candy, then went back to his apartment to have sex again, KHOU reported.

The girl's mother checked her phone and emails noticed her correspondence with the YES Prep East End teacher. The girl confessed the next day. When investigators examined Mangal's cell phone records, they found 900 calls and texts between the two of them from Sept. 8 to Sept. 17, 2011.

Parents were shocked to hear the news.

This is a surprise to me, completely, Laura Magallanes, whose child attends YES Prep East End told KHOU.

YES Prep East End president immediately put Mangal on leave when the allegations came out. Mangal resigned a few days later. Administrators sent a letter home and said student well=being was the top priority. Some parents did not believe that, however.

Where do I go from here, Dakota Blate asked KHOU. Do I take [my daughter] out [of school]? I would think the school would be the safest place. Now look at it.