EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — A high school teacher in Eagle Mountain who apparently fled the country is facing 31 charges relating to the sexual abuse of two students, one as young as 15 years old.
Ricardo Margalho Prins is currently listed as a Career and Technical Education teacher at Rockwell Charter High School. Although his employment at the school was confirmed by the Utah County Sheriff's Office, Rockwell officials refused to discuss Prins or the charges against him.
The charges faced by Prins include Rape, Forcible Sexual Abuse and Forcible Sodomy.
Once detectives began an investigation into Prins using his position to influence the victims, they learned he had left the county and traveled to his home in Brazil. In a statement Tuesday, the sheriff's office said Prins has yet to return to the United States.
According to the charging documents, Prins asked a 17-year-old student to come to his classroom around Sept. 1 to "hang out with him during her free period." Once the student arrived, Prins is accused of locking the door to the classroom, kissing her and touching her sexually.
The student said Prins, 39, sexually abused her after messaging her while she was at an afterschool volleyball game and cheerleader practice. On another occasion, the girl said Prins picked her up from her job and drove her to a remote location before assaulting her.
Prins later told the student that he wanted to have sex with her 15-year-old friend and later picked up both girls and drove them to the previous remote location and sexually assaulted each student.
During one of the alleged assaults, one girl told police that Prins put his "hands around her neck and applied pressure until she passed out for a second."
The girls claim Prins later assaulted them sexually inside a classroom being used for school storage.
