teacher DANIEL RIOS at el monte’s Arroyo high, arrested for child molestation

51-year-old Daniel Rios is a former substitute teacher and coach at El Monte, California’s Arroyo High School, part of El Monte Union School District. Rios was arraigned at Pomona Superior Court for five counts of child sexual molestation of his former students. The student victims were molested over the course of five months, August through December of 2016, according to the criminal complaint — police are not revealing the location where the molestations took place. The investigation by El Monte police began in December of 2016 over an allegation of inappropriate contact between the Arroyo High teacher and several female students. Rios was eventually arrested at his home on April 12, 2017, and posted bond and was released on April 15, three days later.

El Monte Union School District Superintendent Edward Zuniga stated that Rios resigned on February 16, 2017, two months after the investigation began but prior to being arrested.

The preliminary hearing is on January 10, 2018, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Another DA’s Office spokesperson, Shiara Davila-Morales, indicated that Daniel Rios could be sentenced to up to three years in state prison, then three years in county jail, if he is convicted as charged.

Our thanks go to the El Monte Police and to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for their dedicated work in investigating and prosecuting Daniel Rios.

Since Rios is 51, we would be shocked to discover that these are the only five instances of child sexual abuse in his “career” as a teacher and coach. Knowing that authority figures like this are never found to have molested children “just once”, we will not be surprised if the arrest encourages other survivors to reach out to parents and police to tell their story, and we are happy that the authorities will be in a position to further-investigate.

If you were molested by teacher/coach Daniel Rios, or if you are a parent who believes your child was molested by him and you are concerned about harm he may have caused, please contact the El Monte police and also call us. We are located in the Los Angeles area at 445 Figueroa, and our phone is (213) 596-4855. Our law firm specializes in children who have been sexually abused by authority figures including teachers, coaches, camp counselors, foster parents and priests. We offer free consultations with the young survivors and their families, and there are no fees up front if we decide to work together. The family doesn’t pay for anything up front, not doctors, not lawyers, not any other professionals. We only get paid if we recover money successfully, and we get paid a portion of the successful recovery.

We have on-staff team including a psychologist and other medical professionals. Child sexual abuse is an increasingly complicated category of the law, and our experience and compassion allows us to help the families of our clients navigate it successfully.