Teacher’s arrest on sexual misconduct charges stuns parents of students

Spanish and theater teacher Jennifer Gardel, 30, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday evening on six felony counts of sexual misconduct with a student.

A source close to the investigation said the arrest stemmed from Gardel’s relationship with a 17-year-old male student.

As kids poured out of the school near Sahara Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, some parents said any allegation of sexual misconduct between a teacher and student needs to be taken seriously.

“She should have known the boundaries between a teacher and student,” said William Ufret, the father of a freshman.

Cree Stanley, whose daughter is a Las Vegas High School freshman, wondered why Gardel couldn’t find “men her own age.”

“She’s a grown woman,” Stanley said. “She should understand that’s somebody else’s child.”

Gardel was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on $18,000 bail, but jail records on Thursday indicated she was no longer at the facility.

Gardel did not return phone calls Thursday.

Clark County School District spokesman Michael Rodriguez said Gardel has been placed on paid administrative leave. She was hired by the district in August 2007, he said.

Rodriguez said “appropriate actions” will be taken in Gardel’s case based on the criminal investigation.

State law explicitly says that teachers cannot engage in sexual acts with students who are minors.

According to Nevada Revised Statute 201.540, a person who is 21 or older and in position of authority is guilty of a category C felony if he or she “engages in sexual conduct with a pupil who is 16 or 17 years of age and who is enrolled in or attending the public school or private school at which the person is employed.”

Although society might not see 17-year-old boys who have sexual contact with adult women as victims, studies indicate they are, said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation.

Miller said teenage boys who are exploited sexually by women are more likely to abuse drugs, drop out of school and act out violently.

Because society looks at sexual encounters between teenage boys and adult women as a “rite of passage” or “conquest,” Miller said, the teenagers are often confused.

“They are unable to express their victimization as openly as a female victim or a male victim who has been abused by a male perpetrator,” Miller said.

And although some teenagers who have sexual encounters with adult women might be slapping high-fives with their buddies, on the inside, they are hurting, Miller said.

Some Las Vegas High School students on Thursday said Gardel was a good teacher who went out of her way to help them succeed.

Alexis Ciaglo, a junior, said she didn’t believe the allegations against Gardel. Ciaglo said Gardel taught her Spanish during her freshman and sophomore years.

Ciaglo said rumors were swirling throughout the hallways Thursday as to what happened with Gardel and the student.

Shaniece Hicks, a junior, said Gardel was her favorite teacher. She said Gardel would stay before and after Spanish class to help students with their lessons.

Hicks said Gardel hosted a Cinco de Mayo celebration in her class Wednesday.

Hicks remembers the teacher having a smile on her face throughout the party.

“She went from being all happy and excited to jail,” Hicks said

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@review
journal.com or 702-383-4638.