Teacher accused of sexually abusing two teens before fleeing to Brazil, Utah cops say
A teacher accused of sexually abusing two teens in Utah has left the country, officials said.
Ricardo Margalho Prins, 39, a teacher at Rockwell Charter School in Eagle Mountain, “returned to Brazil at about the same time” the Utah County Sheriff’s Office was contacted about his alleged abuse, deputies said in a Jan. 14 post on Facebook.
The case has been forwarded to prosecutors “for an arrest warrant” and “there are aspects of the case that are still under investigation,” deputies said.
Prins was charged on Jan. 13 with 31 counts of rape, forcible sexual abuse, forcible sodomy, object rape, aggravated assault and unlawful kissing of a minor, according to a court filing.
He’s accused of using “his position to influence his victims,” deputies said.
McClatchy News reached out to Rockwell Charter School on Jan. 15 and was awaiting a response.
An attorney for Prins didn’t appear to be listed in court records Jan. 15.
The teacher is accused of sexually abusing two girls, ages 15 and 17, on multiple occasions both at school and off-site, according to the court filing.
In one instance, one of the teens reported that he “applied pressure” to her neck until she passed out, a court filing said.
Prins told the teens “that he could hack their phones and erase security footage” and that he’d worked for Brazil’s government and “had murdered 2,000 people,” a court filing said.
Prins was placed on leave at school on Dec. 15 after one of the teens reported the alleged abuse, and he boarded a flight to Brazil the next day, according to a court filing.
He initially communicated with Utah investigators, saying he’d left “because his mother was dying and he wasn’t aware of any investigation, just that he’d been put on leave,” a court filing said.
He said he’d return Jan. 5 but then later reported he had visa issues, the filing said.
He hadn’t been back in communication as of Jan. 14, the filing said.
Detectives are asking other potential victims to come forward.
Eagle Mountain is about a 40-mile drive southwest from Salt Lake City.
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