The charged teacher and the student denied the allegations in an internal handling of the matter
This is an ongoing story and may be updated.
MARFA — Court records in the case alleging Marfa ISD teacher Rebecca Ontiveros had an improper relationship with a male high school student show that the district first heard word of the allegations in April this year, well before the School Board granted her a new contract on August 18 to teach pre-K. However, “all parties” denied the allegations at the time, according to a probable cause affidavit in a search warrant filed in district court today.
The School Board met Thursday on personnel matters — including whether Board President Teresa Nuñez should resign. While the public attending the meeting thought that the employment of Ontiveros also would be discussed, since she had been on paid administrative leave since her August 21 arrest, Interim Superintendent Arturo Alferez told The Big Bend Sentinel today that she was no longer with the district as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. It’s unclear whether she was terminated or resigned, and Alferez had no further comment. The board took no action after the closed session.
It’s unclear why the board did not make a public statement noting Ontiveros’ departure from the district.
The court records revealed today — search warrants sought by the Texas Ranger investigating the case — offer a more detailed scope of the alleged relationship between Ontiveros and a male high school student. The Ranger, Malcolm White, accompanied by other law enforcement officers, went to Marfa ISD on August 21 to interview Ontiveros and the unnamed student — SVI, a label for student victim one. The grandmother of the student had made a formal complaint to the Marfa Police Department, which then contacted the Rangers. The grandmother told police that Ontiveros and the student told her on separate occasions that they were involved in an “ongoing sexual relationship.”
The student and Ontiveros initially denied a relationship when confronted by police, but Ontiveros eventually “confessed” to having sex with the student on two occasions in June and July — both in her car — according to affidavits. “Ontiveros later confessed that she and SVI frequently communicated over Snapchat and that SVI had made numerous sexual advances towards her while they communicated over Snapchat as well as in person,” the affidavit stated. “Ontiveros stated that she and SVI began communicating over Snapchat in the fall of 2024,” it said.
The records showed authorities also interviewed a juvenile witness one, (JWI) who said the student and Ontiveros “had been hanging out at Ontiveros’ residence in Marfa.” The affidavit did not give a time period for this account. On these occasions, JWl reported that “SVl and Ontiveros would often go alone into Ontiveros’ room for long periods of time. JWl had also witnessed SVl and Ontiveros flirting with one another while in public.”
Ontiveros told the Ranger that she blocked the student on Snapchat on August 16 after “interpersonal issues.” The warrants seek searches of Snapchat accounts, Ontiveros’ iPhone, and her car, which had been sealed and impounded. All of the warrants were issued by 394th District Judge Monty Kimball on August 25, except for the car, which was issued on September 2. Not filed yet with the district clerk is an arrest warrant probable cause affidavit. However, The Sentinel obtained it from a third party who received it in an open records request to the Department of Public Safety.
Affidavits and warrant information “executed” — meaning signed — by a judge are supposed to be filed immediately with the judge’s clerk for public inspection unless the subject of a warrant hasn’t been arrested or released on bond yet. The Presidio district clerk had not received these records — as they were supposed to — until this morning. Without the Texas Rangers commenting on who issued their warrants, it became a guessing game for The Sentinel for more than a week for which of the 11 or so tri-county judges issued them. Contact with all of them resulted in several reporting they had no records.
The Sentinel learned Thursday night that Judge Monty Kimball — who initially did not respond to a question if he had executed the warrants — briefly discussed the situation in a phone call. He acknowledged that he did in the Thursday call with The Sentinel. Thus, he is responsible under Texas law for having them filed with the Presidio County district clerk to be made public — something he never did, at least for several days.
With no one at the district providing further comment, it’s unclear what steps were taken by the district to investigate the first anonymous complaint in April. Unless they contacted law enforcement, they would have had no investigatory powers other than the voluntary cooperation of witnesses.
The board is expected to meet again on September 15 with another closed session to discuss board roles and responsibilities. Under Texas law, there is no mechanism — other than court action — for board members to remove Nuñez from the board, although members could decide to restructure and remove her as president.
