Educator Accused of Sex With 17-Year-Old

The Moorpark Unified School District is looking for a new director for Moorpark Project Pride, while the project’s former leader fights allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Alberto Rios, 25, who resigned from the organization in August, pleaded not guilty last week to charges that he had unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation with a minor. He was arrested July 31 and released on bail the following day.

Rios could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Rios’ resignation has placed Project Pride--which provides tutoring, counseling and after-school activities to local youth--on hold. But District Supt. Thomas Duffy said the program will continue once a replacement is found.

The charges against Rios surprised residents of Moorpark, where many view him as a tireless man with a genuine concern for the city’s children and teens.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Capt. Martin Rouse of the Moorpark division of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “It’s always unfortunate when someone in a position of trust is accused of betraying that trust.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Adam Pearlman said Rios’ standing in the community added to the gravity of the charges against him.

“He was a role model, someone people aspired to be,” Pearlman said. “That’s one of the reasons that makes this case more serious.”

Rios faces three counts of oral copulation with a minor and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse, Pearlman said. The charges stem from two incidents in May, 1996, involving Rios and the underage girl.

Pearlman noted that “there’s no allegations that any of this conduct was by force or fear. It’s all consensual conduct.”

An early disposition conference in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 27 to determine whether and when the case will proceed to a preliminary hearing.