Jesse Orta Indicted, Former San Antonio Teacher

A Bexar County grand jury has indicted 34-year-old Jesse Orta, a former band teacher at Somerset Academy Collegiate in San Antonio, on charges including two counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student and one count of possession of child pornography. The indictments, handed up on August 20, 2026, stem from separate incidents involving students that allegedly occurred between November 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024, according to court documents. Orta was first arrested in October 2024, according to court documents cited by KSAT. An arrest affidavit states San Antonio police officers seized Orta's cellphone as evidence, and confirmed that Orta recorded a girl without her permission as she got in and out of the shower. A woman told investigators she discovered the recording in a personal file on Orta's phone, prompting her to contact authorities, per the affidavit. Court documents also describe a second girl, who attended a school where Orta worked as a band teacher, telling police about sexual encounters involving Orta. That account, along with the shower recording allegation, forms the basis for the two improper-relationship counts now before the court. Orta was separately accused of possessing visual material of a child under 18 in late September 2024, according to the child sexual abuse material indictment. According to authorities cited in the KSAT report, school administration reassigned Orta elsewhere within the district in an effort to limit his interactions with students after concerns arose. Orta resigned following that reassignment. It remains unclear from available records exactly when school officials notified the Texas Education Agency, though state rules require district administrators to report an educator accused of sexual misconduct to the agency within seven business days of a resignation or termination. Somerset Academy Collegiate is a tuition-free public charter school at 4802 Vance Jackson Road serving pre-K through 12th grade under the Somerset Academies of Texas charter network. The campus received an overall Texas Education Agency accountability rating of 'C' for the 2024–2025 school year. Before joining Somerset Academy Collegiate, Orta built a public profile as a band director in San Antonio ISD. He was named Head Band Director at Sidney Lanier High School in April 2021 after previously serving as band director at Luther Burbank High School beginning in 2013. During his time at Burbank, Orta expanded the marching band's roster from 39 to nearly 140 members and led the program to UIL distinctions and a nomination to perform in the 2016 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C., according to the San Antonio Report. It is not known from available records whether any allegations against Orta originated from his time at those earlier campuses. The two counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student are each classified as second-degree felonies under Texas Penal Code § 21.12, carrying a punishment range of two to 20 years in state prison and fines of up to $10,000 upon conviction. Separately, possession of child pornography is charged as a third-degree felony under Texas Penal Code § 43.26, punishable by two to 10 years in prison, fines up to $10,000, and mandatory sex offender registration if convicted. The shower recording allegation described in the arrest affidavit also falls under a distinct statute: Texas Penal Code § 21.15 makes recording another person without consent in a private setting, such as a bathroom or changing area, a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in state jail. Beyond potential prison time, an educator convicted of an improper relationship with a student faces automatic consequences under Texas Senate Bill 7, passed in 2017, including suspension or loss of public retirement pension benefits and mandatory revocation of a teaching certificate by the State Board for Educator Certification. Orta's case adds to a string of educator misconduct cases across the San Antonio area in recent years. Investigations opened by the Texas Education Agency into improper educator-student relationships rose by roughly 42 percent to 429 cases during the 2017–2018 school year alone, following legislative reforms that expanded mandatory reporting requirements. Hoodline reported on a similar indictment involving a former MacArthur High School teacher earlier this month, and other recent cases have touched both traditional public schools and charter networks including Somerset Academy. The exact schedule of upcoming court proceedings in Bexar County district court has not been made public. Key questions, including the full timeline of when school officials first raised concerns and notified state regulators, remain unresolved as the case moves through the courts.