Charges dismissed for teacher in ‘witch' case

RIO GRANDE CITY -Nearly two years after an incident at Roma High School led to a teacher's arrest, the district attorney's office here on Monday dismissed the charges.

Jose Amador Ramos, once an advanced placement Spanish teacher at Roma High School, was arrested in October 2006 for unlawfully detaining two teenage girls in his classroom during a school day. Ramos said the girls were free to leave, but that he had been protecting them.

Other students believed one of the girls had been using witchcraft to hurt a teacher, and intended to attack her in retaliation, according to Ramos' attorney.

After a lengthy suspension, Ramos resigned in March 2007.

In the years since, the girls, then 14 and 17 - neither of whom police would identify, because they were minors - have changed their stories, said District Attorney Heriberto Silva.

"What they were telling (us) now was a different story," Silva said.

Prosecutor John Olson said he recommended last week that they dismiss the case. He spent 10 days re-interviewing witnesses and reviewing the evidence.

Olson said the case had been a new assignment, and that he wasn't sure if another attorney in the small office had been actively pursuing the case.

"This case was delayed, I agree with that," DA Silva said. "(But) I have over 700 cases a year here, and four attorneys."

Silva's office handles cases in Starr, Duval and Jim Hogg counties, which together have two courts.

Murders and sexual assaults tend to get top priority, according to Silva and Olson.

Meanwhile, the lengthy delay left Ramos unemployable. Although he was out of jail on bond, the felony indictment against him kept other school districts from hiring him, attorney Rey Merino said.

Ramos and his sister, Nereida Reyna, were in court Monday for the dismissal, but Reyna said neither could comment until a related misdemeanor charge is also dismissed by the Starr County Attorney's office.

Because the older of the two girls was 17, the charge in her case is less severe than in that of her 14-year-old cousin.