Boy, 15, Tries to Get His Life Back to Normal After Trip With Teacher, 33

While a Cajon High School teacher sat in a Las Vegas jail Saturday facing charges of kidnapping and statutory sexual seduction, the 15-year-old student that she ran off with was trying to get his life back to normal, according to his family.

On Saturday, Richard Pena went out to breakfast with his father, a 17-year-old sister and a friend. Later, several buddies visited the house.

His parents, Herman and Ida Pena, said they are worried about their son, but didn’t want to press him for details about his Las Vegas trip with teacher Tanya Joan Hadden, 33.

“We’re just showing him a lot of love,” Ida Pena said from her San Bernardino home Saturday night. “We haven’t pried too much yet. We don’t want to push him right now.”

Richard has been reticent since his return, spending most of his time playing with his 7-month-old pit bull, Pinky, his parents said. Herman Pena said he was baffled by his son’s behavior last week.

“It’s not like Richard,” he said, adding, “I’m sure he didn’t expect things to turn out this way.”

On Thursday, police found Richard with Hadden in a room at the $39-a-night New Frontier Hotel & Gambling Hall.

The two ended up in Las Vegas after they were questioned by police about reports that Hadden had bought alcohol for minors.

Richard’s parents were escorted to the California-Nevada border late Thursday for a tearful reunion with their son.

Investigators are looking into whether the popular science teacher had an inappropriate relationship with the student. She was arrested by Las Vegas police and is facing arraignment. She denied that she had broken the law by having sex with a minor.

Richard’s 23-year-old sister, Roxanne Pena, said that he always gets attention from girls, and that she was shocked after reading an article in The Times in which Hadden said she had shown poor judgment by taking the boy to Las Vegas and described him as her soul mate.

“Soul mates? She called them soul mates?” Roxanne Pena said. “I can’t imagine what she was thinking.”

Although she had not yet talked to her brother about the details of his three-day trip with his teacher, Roxanne Pena said the family has been overwhelmed by media attention and struggles to keep some semblance of privacy.

“Suddenly, your life is exposed,” she said. “Reporters were camping out on our lawn.”

Roxanne Pena said her family did not suspect that Richard was involved in an inappropriate romantic relationship with his teacher.

Sometimes, she said, Hadden gave Richard rides home from school along with other friends. Richard often sat in the back seat, so there was no reason to be suspicious, his sister said, adding that he had dated other girls his own age in the last year.

Herman and Ida Pena declined to talk about Hadden’s prosecution, but said they did not look forward to the attention future court hearings would bring to their family.

Ida Pena said she is just glad to have her son home. Every hour that passed while he was gone seemed like a year, she said.

She said her son will likely need counseling. “I’m sure he’s going through hundreds of emotions,” his mother said. “It’s going to take some time.”

The Penas have not decided when Richard will return to school.