A 19-year-old woman from Reading who was employed as an English as a Second Language (ESL) paraprofessional at Northwest Middle School is facing several charges, including unlawful contact with a minor, and multiple counts of indecent exposure, announced the Berks County District Attorney’s Office Wednesday morning.
In December of 2024, the Berks County District Attorney’s Detectives received several Childline referrals from the Department of Human Services, Commonwealth of PA, which alleged that a paraprofessional employed by the Reading School District was having inappropriate contact with a male student. Based on the foregoing, a criminal investigation was initiated by the Berks County Detectives.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the criminal investigation revealed that Stephanie Quintero-Ochoa was employed as an ESL (English as a Second Language) paraprofessional at the Northwest Middle School-Reading School District, located at 1000 N. Front Street, Reading, PA. It was reported that the defendant would hug and touch the 13-year-old victim in such a way that it made him feel uncomfortable. This touching included holding hands, writing on the victim’s arm, playing with his hair, and rubbing her leg against his thighs. Based upon these allegations, the defendant was immediately placed on administrative leave by the school district.
The victim was forensically interviewed and disclosed that the defendant would touch him as described above, despite his pleas for her to stop. He also indicated that the defendant had showed him sexually explicit photographs on her cellular telephone. Additionally, detectives say the defendant threatened the victim’s thirteen-year-old girlfriend, by indicating that they could “handle this on the street”, referring to the defendant wanting to physically fight this female student.
Continued investigation into these allegations identified three additional middle school students who were shown a sexually explicit video by the defendant. These three male students disclosed that the video was contained on the victim’s cellular telephone and depicted the defendant engaging in sexual activity. Additionally, one of these juveniles was also shown nude photographs of the victim which were also located on the defendant’s phone.
As part of this investigation, Berks County Detectives seized the defendant’s cellular telephone and later obtained a search warrant to forensically examine such. Detectives uncovered a video and several photographs which corroborated the accounts of the middle school students.
On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, the defendant was charged with Unlawful Contact with a Minor, and multiple counts of Indecent Exposure, Dissemination of Explicit Sexual Material via Electronic Communication, Corruption of Minors, and Endangering Welfare of Children.
A warrant of arrest was issued for the defendant by Magisterial District Judge Alvin Robinson.
On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, the defendant surrendered to members of the Berks County Detectives. The defendant was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Robinson and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for February 7, 2025.
As in every criminal case, the fact that an arrest occurred or a complaint has been filed is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.