Las Vegas charter school teacher arrested on child sex abuse charges

A teacher at a Las Vegas charter school for girls was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of child sexual abuse-related crimes.

According to Las Vegas Justice Court records, Marco Penaloza Jr., 30, faces two felony counts of using or permitting a minor 14 or older to be the subject of sexual portrayal in a performance, and two felony counts of using or permitting a child 14 or older to produce sexual abuse material.

An online search showed a Marco Penaloza listed as a math teacher at Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Las Vegas, a charter school for girls in grades six through 10 in the east valley.

Through a statement sent to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday, principal Keturah Draper said the school “became aware of the investigation into an employee” on Wednesday.

The employee was “immediately removed from his duties at the school,” according to the statement, and has been terminated.

A spokeswoman for Draper confirmed Thursday that Penaloza was a teacher at Young Women’s Leadership Academy.

“At this time, YWLA has been told that the investigation and arrest is not connected to this employee’s time at YWLA and does not involve any YWLA students or other staff members,” the statement read.

Nevada Department of Education records show that Penaloza was a licensed teacher at Mater Academy East Las Vegas for three years, beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

As of Thursday night, Penaloza was listed as an inmate at the Clark County Detention Center. His bail was set at $100,000.

Online records show Penaloza made his first appearance in court on Thursday. He’s scheduled to appear for a status check hearing on Tuesday.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.