UPDATE: DSUSD issues statement on parent accused of sexual misconduct
Update – 10/18/18:
The Desert Sands Unified School District has released a new message to parents regarding Delgadillo’s role as a volunteer at Palm Desert Charter Middle School. They ask that anybody with evidence of wrongdoing on campus or related to DSUSD students by any individual should contact district security at 760-771-8645 or the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at 760-836-1600.
Full new message from DSUSD:
In addition, our intent in making this and any other statement regarding this case is two-fold. The first is to look into the alleged criminal’s activities in our schools in our continued efforts to protect the safety of all of our children.
In addition, as the police investigation continues we ask that all care be given to the children of the alleged criminal who are innocent of any wrong-doing and who are being placed in an extremely difficult situation. There is no evidence at this time of any wrong-doing at this or any other campus or any misdeed directed at any child under the care of Desert Sands Unified School District. We remind you that this individual was not under law enforcement investigation during his children’s school attendance during this period, and no reason for him to be treated any differently than any other parent. The allegations that have arisen are now being investigated by law enforcement. Should there be any evidence to the contrary, including photographs, they should be provided to law enforcement.
The district’s original statement is available below.
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Original – 10/15/18
Desert Sands Unified School District has released a statement about a parent who was arrested last month and charged for a pair of local sexual assaults.
46-year-old Daniel Candelario Delgadillo pled not guilty in September to 16 felony charges, including rape, kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment. DSUSD Public Information Officer Mary Perry confirmed that Delgadillo had children at Palm Desert Charter Middle School, and served as a ‘band parent’, volunteering his time to assist at band competitions, by “moving props and sets, along with others who were in attendance at these performances”.
The District’s statement, in full:
The District has recently become aware of serious allegations of sexual misconduct by a community member and parent.
While there are few known facts about the case, and legal constraints prevent us from commenting publicly about the matter, I can assure you that the safety and security of the district’s students and staff is our top priority.
The District will work cooperatively with law enforcement and has commenced its own investigation to ensure no students or employees of the District have been victimized.
The District will not be giving any interviews or issuing any information related to the few known facts of the case. These are private matters for the family and for law enforcement.
We understand and share the community’s concern regarding this very serious matter. Be assured that we are taking affirmative steps to protect our students and staff from harm.
We encourage anyone who feels they have been subjected to sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior to report it to a teacher, counselor, or administrator.
Perry clarified in a prior email that Delgadillo was not an ‘official volunteer’ and PDCMS.
Delgadillo was arrested on Sept. 24, near the Haugen Lehmann off-ramp off Interstate 10 in Whitewater, according to county jail records.
He is being held on $3 million bail.
Delgadillo was initially charged a decade ago with the rapes of the two 2006 victims, but charges were dismissed in June 2008. The criminal complaint alleged the attacks occurred about five months apart and that a knife was used in one of the assaults.
In the 2014 case, Delgadillo is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, then driving her up a mountainside, where she leapt from Delgadillo’s moving vehicle because she believed he “was taking her up the mountain to kill her,” according to an arrest warrant declaration.
The document alleges he initially gave the woman a ride from a Palm Springs bus stop to a residence in either Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage, then sexually assaulted, punched and choked her before the drive up the mountain. Though a suspect description was provided to investigators, the house where the alleged assault occurred could not be located at the time, the declaration states.
For unknown reasons, the victim’s sexual assault kit was also not analyzed for more than a year after the alleged assault occurred, but DNA results received in March 2016 linked Delgadillo to the crime, according to the declaration. Court documents state that while authorities investigated the 2014 incident, Delgadillo was found to be a suspect in four other sexual assaults across the Coachella Valley, including cases investigated by the Indio, Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs police departments and the sheriff’s Palm Desert station.
He is set to appear in Indio court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
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