San Jose

Therapist arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting girl in San Jose

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San Jose police have arrested a therapist on suspicion of sexually assaulting a young female patient with special needs multiple times, the department announced Wednesday. Marianne Favro reports.

San Jose police have arrested a therapist on suspicion of sexually assaulting a young female patient with special needs multiple times, the department announced Wednesday.

Alejandro Lopez Nunez, a 48-year-old behavioral therapist with Trumpet Behavioral Health and also a part-time instructional aide at Forest Hill Elementary School, was arrested on Sunday, two days after he allegedly sexually assaulted the girl during a session at her home, police said.

Officers responded to the girl's home on Saturday to investigate the reported sexual assault that occurred on Friday and identified Lopez Nunez as the suspect, police said.

A police department task force launched an investigation and determined that Lopez Nunez had sexually assaulted the girl multiple times since March, police said.

Lopez Nunez was arrested in Santa Clara and booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for sexual assault of a minor, according to police.

Police believe there may be additional victims "based on the suspect position as a person of trust," the department said.

Trumpet Behavioral Health said it performed a background check on Lopez Nunez before he was hired. In a statement, the company went on to say, "Nothing is more important to us than the health, safety and well-being of the children in our care. As soon as we were made aware of the incident, we took immediate action in cooperation with law enforcement including terminating the employee and beginning an internal review."

Anyone with information about the case or similar cases is asked to contact San Jose police Detective Minten by email at 4269@sanjoseca.gov or call 408-277-4102.

Anonymous tips can be issued by using the P3TIPS mobile app, calling the tip line at 408-947-STOP or visiting siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.

Campbell Union, the school district for Forest Hill Elementary, issued the following statement:

“The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority. Said individual was hired by our district in 2022 after undergoing a rigorous screening process, as all school district employees do. The individual worked as a part-time Instructional Aide to provide break coverage to other Instructional Aides, under the supervision of the classroom teacher. To our knowledge, the alleged behavior did not involve our students. 

The individual has not worked with our students since June 6, 2024, the last day our students were in school. Our District will be taking appropriate personnel action upon the conclusion of our investigation. We are cooperating with SJPD in this matter and encourage our community to step forward if they have any information.”

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