WASHINGTON — A D.C. teacher accused of molesting one of his students appeared in Superior Court Thursday morning and was ordered held without bond.
Giovanni Peña, 31, is charged with second-degree sexual abuse of a child.
Prosecutors claim Peña touched a young boy’s privates because he was curious whether a child could be aroused. Peña also is accused of sending the boy naked, lewd photos of himself through the app Snapchat.
The student is now 11-years old, but he was 10 when the alleged abuse occurred.
According to court documents, Peña admitted the allegations were true.
In court, Peña’s attorney asked for his client to be placed under house arrest, saying Peña is a respected educator with no criminal record.
The prosecution argued Peña is a potential danger to the community, and the judge agreed, sending Peña back to jail without bond.
Peña waived his preliminary hearing. He will be back in court for a status hearing Friday, June 26.
Peña was an English teacher at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School in Northwest. He was arrested June 2 and has since been removed from the school.
