New details in Colorado Springs teacher accused of sexually assaulting former student

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Colorado Springs Police Department arrested a former District 12 math teacher on Dec. 28, 2023, for multiple charges related to the sexual assault of a minor.

Marco Lara, 48, was in court Monday after he was arrested and charged with sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and a pattern of abuse against a former student.

KRDO13 Investigates obtained court documents Monday which detail allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with the former student for nearly 12 years, starting when the victim was 14 years old. The accusations occurred before Lara was a teacher at the Cheyenne Mountain High School. The court documents said Lara met the victim at a middle school in Colorado Springs, but it is unclear which school.

According to the arrest affidavit, the victim told Colorado Springs Police their relationship was normal until she graduated 8th grade. She said Lara then took her to his home after school multiple times a week to have sex.

Police records say that Marco told the victim he would leave his wife when the victim turned 18, according to the arrest affidavit.

She told detectives their relationship changed at the end of her freshman year when Lara had a second child, which the victim said “caused her to no longer believe Marco intended to leave his wife for her.”

The victim provided Colorado Springs Police with photo and video evidence of the sexual relationship from when she was 15 years old until she was 22. In a phone call with the police, the victim asked Lara why he had sex with her when she was 14 years old. Lara said, “It wasn’t planned…I should have known better,” according to court documents.

Lara was arrested on Dec. 28 and charged with sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and aggravated incest. However, during Lara’s court hearing today, a formal felony complaint was filed and Lara is no longer facing the aggravated incest charge. Instead, he faces three counts of sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and a pattern of abuse.

At the time of the arrest, Lara was a math teacher at Cheyenne Mountain High School. According to the school district, Lara was an intermittent substitute teacher during the 2021-2022 school year and a full-time math teacher beginning in August 2022. Two days after Lara’s arrest, the school district said he resigned from the school district.

Lara’s next court appearance is scheduled for the end of January.

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