Story Created:
Oct 13, 2009
Story Updated:
Oct 14, 2009
A Laredo Independent School District attendance officer has been arrested and terminated this afternoon and the principal of Santa Maria Elementary placed on administrative leave.
All this for failing to report neglect and abandonment of 4 young children back in September, one being Katherine Cardenas who was later found dead.
An LISD attendance officer has been arrested this afternoon and a campus administrator has been placed on leave in connection with Katherine Cardenas, the young girl found dead last month.
LISD police officers arrested district attendance officer Ricardo Perez this afternoon for his failure to notify child protective services of the abandonment of Cardenas and her brothers and sisters.
"He was charged with a class b misdemeanor for failure to report neglect of children to child protective services. He was also terminated from employment with lLISD," LISD Communications Director told Pro 8 News.
2-year-old Katherine Cardenas was later found dead inside of a storage unit located outside of her home.
According to LISD officials, the principal of Santa Maria Elementary, Nora Santos and 3 other staff members instructed Perez to call CPS after discovering the unsupervised children. Since this was not done in this case, Santos has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the district’s internal investigation.
We will bring you more on this developing story at 6 and 10.
