Ruben Guzman, a 31-year-old math teacher and assistant principal, allegedly communicated with someone he thought was a teen boy and asked for sex acts in exchange for cash
San Jose Police Department
NEED TO KNOW
- A California teacher, who was named a Teacher of the Year finalist in 2024, was arrested in a sting operation
- Ruben Guzman, a 31-year-old math teacher and assistant principal, allegedly communicated with someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy and asked for sex acts in exchange for cash
- Guzman then allegedly arranged to meet with the child in San Jose, but was met by police officers
A California teacher, who was a Teacher of the Year finalist in 2024, was arrested in a sting operation during which he allegedly offered money in exchange for sexual acts from someone he thought was a child.
According to the San Jose Police Department (SJPD), 31-year-old Ruben Guzman, a math teacher and assistant principal at the city's Sunrise Middle School, allegedly began communicating with someone he believed was a 13-year-old boy on the night of Feb. 3.
In a press release, police said that Guzman "acknowledged the child was underage and told the minor that he wanted to engage in sexual acts, further enticing the minor by offering money in exchange."
Guzman then allegedly arranged to meet with the child in San Jose, but was met with officers from the department's Covert Response Unit, who immediately took him into custody.
San Jose Police Department
Officers searched his belongings, and they allegedly found "items consistent with the planned encounter."
Investigators then learned that Guzman was actively employed as a teacher at Sunrise Middle School.
The sting operation was part of a large-scale proactive operation by the department's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)/Child Exploitation Detail (CED) Task Force during the week of the Super Bowl, which was meant to "identify, locate and apprehend individuals who were seeking minors online to engage in a lewd or lascivious acts."
"Undercover officers from various law enforcement agencies posed as juveniles online to identify individuals seeking to sexually exploit children," police said.
"These chat operations specifically were conducted by undercover officers," SJPD Sr. Public Information Representative Stacie Shih told ABC7. "With these operations specifically, we were able to apprehend the offenders before any child was harmed."
Police told the outlet that 10 other men were arrested for crimes related to online child exploitation.
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"While this is deeply upsetting, it does not reflect who we are as a school," Sunrise Middle School director Teresa Robinson told ABC7. "He was a highly regarded teacher and administrator. Again, there was nothing in his work record or his prior work record [at] other schools to indicate anyone had any problems with his work."
According to the outlet, the former teacher was honored in 2024 as a finalist for California Teacher of the Year and recognized by the San Francisco 49ers for his work as an educator.
"We are very, very glad that it did not happen, to the best of our knowledge, to anybody at our school, that safety will continue to be our top priority," Robinson added.
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Guzman was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for allegedly communicating with a minor for sex, police said.
Because Guzman was actively employed as a teacher at the time of his arrest, authorities are asking anyone who may be an additional victim to contact law enforcement.
"Anyone with information about this case or similar cases is asked to contact Detective Minten #4269 of the San José Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)/Child Exploitation Detail (CED) Task Force via email: 4269@sanjoseca.gov, or 408-277-4102," police said.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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