El Paso school district investigating recording of teacher allegedly sympathizing with pedophiles

The El Paso Independent School District is investigating a recording of a high school teacher in which he can be heard telling students to refer to pedophiles as “minor attracted persons.” Students have come to the teacher’s defense, saying the video is being taken out of context.

In the 18-second audio recording, which was posted to social media, the teacher is heard having the following exchange with students:

Teacher: “You’re not allowed to label people like that.”

Some students: “They are called pedophiles.”

Teachers: “Stop it. We’re not going to call them that. We’re going to call them MAPS. Minor Attracted Person. So don’t judge people because they want to have sex with 5-year-olds.”

The recording garnered concern and anger in the comments section on Facebook, with some parents expressing outrage over the classroom conversation. The caption on the video, which was posted by a local blogger, reads, “Be vigilant! Talk to your kids, be involved with your schools, make your voice heard, VOTE!”

Following the post, the school district issued a statement saying the incident is under investigation. “El Paso Independent School District has been made aware of a classroom situation and has promptly initiated an investigation.” the statement said. “Any allegation of potential misconduct is investigated thoroughly and the safety of our students is a top priority.”

Some students who were present for the classroom discussion, however, have said the short snippet of the conversation has been taken out of context. According to them, the teacher was facilitating a larger discussion about modern-day labeling of groups of people.

One student, Ryann Ruvalcaba, told KFOX, “She was expressing how it was ridiculous how we [society] might not be able to call people pedophiles. That we [society] will probably have to start calling them MAPs because it can be offensive to them [pedophiles]. The class agreed.”

The school district has not released any further information on its investigation.