Fresno High band teacher accused of having inappropriate relationship with student

Saturday, April 21, 2018
Fresno High band teacher accused of having inappropriate relationship with student
38-year-old John Veloz Jr. allegedly had three on-campus sexual encounters with a 14-year-old male student.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno High School band director has been arrested Friday for having an inappropriate relationship with a student.



38-year-old John Veloz Jr. allegedly had three on-campus sexual encounters with a 14-year-old male student.



Veloz was the victim's instructor and police say the encounters happened in his office during school hours within the past three weeks.



Mike Washington is a parent and was upset over the news.



"When we drop our kids off, we expect them to be protected at school, not to abused by a teacher of all people."



On LinkedIn, Veloz has an apparent long history of working with kids, including at Youth Orchestras of Fresno.



We reached out to the organization and was told Veloz had not been employed there since last year.



Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says his officers are now working with Fresno Unified School district to identify and retrieve any video evidence of the incident.



Dyer also says there could potentially be additional victims and he is encouraging them to come forward.



"Parents do their due diligence, make contact with their children who have been a student of Mr. Veloz to make absolutely certain that they too have not been victimized," Dyer said.



Veloz was arrested this morning and interviewed by detectives.



He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail facing five counts of sexual assault involving a minor.



Fresno Unified School District superintendent, Bob Nelson, said Veloz started teaching at the school this academic year. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

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