Ropes ISD Employee Arrested for Solicitation of a Minor

A Ropes ISD employee has been arrested and accused of online solicitation of a minor.

KAMC News reports that the arrest happened on Monday, January 11th.

26-year-old William Michael Simonton was arrested after a Texas Department of Public Safety agent posed as a 15-year-old minor online. Whether or not there were any explicit messages or images sent between the agent and Simonton has not been publicly released.

Ropes ISD posted a statement on social media on Wednesday, January 13th confirming that Simonton had been arrested for the incident.

Even though it's currently believed that there were no Ropes ISD students that were victims of Simonton, he has still been placed on administrative leave pending a further investigation into this incident.

Ropes ISD said in an official statement:

Student safety is a paramount concern to Ropes ISD. The District’s policies concerning employee conduct are strictly enforced, and District employees receive regular training on the prohibitions against improper conduct toward children and students.

State and federal law prohibit the District from disclosing confidential personnel information. Therefore, the District cannot provide further information on this matter. The District takes every allegation of educator misconduct seriously and will take all measures necessary to ensure that its students are educated in a safe and nurturing environment.

Simonton was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond, and by Wednesday afternoon, he had posted bail.