A Mesa teacher’s aide who was arrested on charges related to inappropriate texts with a student worked with special needs students, the prosecutor says.
Dominic Sette was arrested by Mesa police on Tuesday after administrators at Empower Academy discovered inappropriate texts between Sette and a 14-year-old male student, police say.
Sette made his initial appearance in court on Wednesday. He faces charges for sexual exploitation of a minor and luring.
In the hearing, prosecutor Brooke Gaunt alleged Sette requested nude photos from the victim and invited him over to his home.
“Our understanding is that Mr. Sette was a paraprofessional at the victim's school and stood in a position of trust to him,” Gaunt said. “The victim was especially vulnerable, given his special needs.”
Gaunt said there are concerns there may be other victims given Sette’s employment and access to vulnerable minors.
Mesa police said Sette had been in contact with the victim for several months.
Sette’s bond was set at $100,000 cash only. Release conditions include electronic monitoring, limited internet access, no social media, and no contact with minors.
Commissioner Jane Mclaughlin said it’s her intent to put Sette out of a job because of the charges of abuses of a position of trust with a minor.
“It is alleged that that you abused a position of trust with a minor child, and the court believes that that the risk is too great to children in the community to let you have contact with any of them,” said Mclaughlin, who presided over Sette’s initial appearance.
She ordered documents related to the case be sealed and redacted to protect the identity of the minor in the case.
In a statement, Empower Academy said they notified police of the case and are fully cooperating with the investigation.
“The safety and well-being of our students is, and always has been, our highest priority. Empower Academy maintains rigorous hiring and safety protocols, including background checks and fingerprint clearance cards for all employees,” a spokesperson for the school said in a statement. “We take matters of student safety extremely seriously and act decisively when concerns arise.”
