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Mesa police arrest teacher’s aide in sex abuse
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Mesa police arrested a 25-year-old teacher’s aide who they say repeatedly brushed his hand across the breasts of a Westwood High School student. Kyle M. Hite was released on his own recognizance Friday after spending the night in jail.
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Mesa police booked him on 12 counts of sexual abuse, each count of which is punishable by probation to 2˝ years in prison.
“The defendant admitted that (he) touched the victim’s breast on numerous occasions without her consent,” a police summary states.
Kathy Bareiss, spokeswoman for the Mesa Unified School District, said Hite began working at the school Feb. 21 after a background check was conducted by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and FBI.
According to a police summary, the 16-year-old victim reported that Hite became friendly with her and they had several discussions during the first few weeks of class.
The victim said she believed that the first time he brushed his hand across her breast was accidental.
She complained to him the second time he did it, and he told her to “knock off her attitude,” the summary states.
“The victim reports that the defendant touched her breast nearly every day from that point on,” the summary states. “The defendant said he thought the victim found him attractive.”
Bareiss said the victim reported the abuse to an assistant principal, who immediately reported it to the school resource officer, who is a Mesa police officer.
Bareiss said the school district is going forward with its own investigation. She said his contract expired with the end of the school year Thursday.
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