A San Francisco man who worked for a nonprofit organization has been charged with sexually abusing a student under the age of 13 at Everett Middle School, court documents show.
Jeremy Rene Reyes, 20, faces multiple felony counts, including committing lewd acts upon a child and contacting a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Reyes worked for the after-school program Mission Graduates, a nonprofit that the school hired to help disadvantaged youth get into college.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent incident involving a Mission Graduates employee at Everett Middle School," Mission Graduates CEO Eddie Kaufman said.
"Our foremost priority is the safety and well-being of students, and we are actively collaborating with SFUSD and authorities in their investigation," Kaufman added. "We are committed to taking prompt and appropriate action to address this issue while ensuring ongoing support for our students and families.”
Prosecutors said Reyes was arrested March 5 after the middle school reported that an adult had sexual contact with a student.
During Reyes' Monday morning court appearance, a prosecutor served a protective order requiring Reyes, if released from custody at any point, to stay 150 yards away from a person named in the order and from the Everett Middle School campus.
Reyes, who sat dressed in orange, kept his head mostly bowed and didn't speak while The Standard was present.
According to court documents, officers responded to the Everett school campus for a report of an adult who had sexually abused a student, and met and spoke with a victim.
The victim told officers she had known Reyes for a few months, meeting him before he began working at the school and had taken a bus to 16th and Mission streets before walking to Reyes' apartment. He then engaged her in sexual intercourse for 20 minutes before she left to go to school, where she felt pain afterward and messaged him.
After Reyes' arrest, he gave a statement to officers admitting to an inappropriate relationship, acknowledging that she was too young and claiming that they had engaged in sex and expressing remorse for his actions.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins thanked school staff for promptly reporting the allegations and said her office will work to support the minor student and their family.
"We will now work diligently to pursue justice in this case and support this minor and their family throughout their healing process," Jenkins said. "My office will do everything in our power to ensure that children are safe in our schools and in our city."
"The school is providing support directly to the impacted student and their family," the San Francisco Unified School District previously said.
Documents said Reyes, who could face up to a maximum of 14 years in state prison if convicted of all charges, who had no prior felonies or failures to appear and had been charged in February 2023 with assault with a deadly weapon, making criminal threats and vandalism but ultimately was only convicted of misdemeanor vandalism.
The allegations against Reyes are part of an active investigation. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact the San Francisco Police Department tip line.
Reyes pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on March 11. A judge granted prosecutors' request to detain him without bail due to public safety concerns. His next court date is a preliminary hearing on March 22.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Deputy Public Defender Semuteh Freeman told The Standard that Reyes was a foster youth, devoted father and recent high school graduate who has "worked hard to overcome the challenges he’s faced from a young age. He was placed in foster care when he was 13, and still receives support from the extended foster care system."
After noting that Reyes "has been working with a social worker to ensure a successful transition from foster care while trying to give back to the community," Freeman asked the public "not to jump to conclusions because it will take some time for these allegations to be sorted out in court.”