Therapist arrested for alleged sexual assault in San Jose – NBC Bay Area

San Jose police have arrested a therapist on suspicion of repeatedly sexually abusing a young patient with special needs, police said Wednesday.

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

Officers went to the girl’s home on Saturday to investigate the reported sexual assault on Friday and identified Lopez Nunez as a suspect, police said.

A police task force launched an investigation and concluded that Lopez Nunez had sexually abused the girl several times since March, police said.

According to police, Lopez Nunez was arrested in Santa Clara and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges of sexual abuse of a minor.

The police assume that there could be more victims “due to the suspect’s position as a confidant,” the statement said.

Trumpet Behavioral Health said it conducted a background check on Lopez Nunez before hiring him. A statement added: “Nothing is more important to us than the health, safety and well-being of the children in our care. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we took immediate action in cooperation with law enforcement, including terminating the employee and initiating an internal review.”

Anyone with information about this or similar cases is asked to contact San Jose Police Detective Minten via email at [email protected] or by phone at 408-277-4102.

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

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

“The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority. The individual in question was hired by our district in 2022 after going through a rigorous selection process, like all school district employees. The individual worked as a part-time teaching assistant to cover for other teaching assistants during recess 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 take appropriate personnel actions after our investigation is complete. We are working with SJPD on this matter and encourage our community to come forward if they have any information.”