Roma teacher haunted by ‘witch' charges

It has not been an easy three years for Jose Ramos.

The 45-year-old Spanish teacher has been unemployed and under a felony indictment for most of that time, chafing against what he saw as an ongoing injustice he could not seem to clear.

Some days, it was hard to tell what was worse: That he was being accused of confining two scared teenage girls to a classroom, or that the Rio Grande Valley thought he'd done it because he thought the girls were witches.

On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the last of his criminal charges and, with an apologetic shrug from a county court-at-law judge whose children had been his students, Ramos was once again free, innocent and employable.

A felony, for unlawfully restraining a minor, was dismissed in October. The prosecutor, Jon Olson, said at the time that the girls' stories about the October 2006 incident had changed and they no longer wanted to testify.

Without that testimony, it was impossible to distinguish between the two versions of the incident.

School district officials said Ramos had threatened the girls and told them to stay in the classroom during morning classes because they were witches and had cast a spell to hurt a fellow teacher. Ramos said he was sheltering them from classmates who believed the witchcraft allegations.

"That witchcraft thing, I had nothing to do with that," Ramos said. "I was protecting the students."

According to Ramos, the two girls - who were not identified in court filings, but are cousins - were being blamed by the school's softball team for casting an evil spell on their coach. The two girls asked for help.

After three years in limbo, Ramos said he blames politics for his arrest and for derailing his career. He said he fought the school administration for more textbooks and recognition of his Advanced Placement Spanish program.

Another teacher thought to have been involved in the incident did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment.

Ramos resigned in February 2007, but the charges gathered dust for several years.

With the final misdemeanor off his record, Ramos said Thursday he looked forward to ending his long stretch of depression and unemployment. He currently lives with his parents in Roma, but is searching for jobs in Hidalgo County to escape the petty politics and rumors of his small town.

He grits his teeth when asked how he feels about the time spent under suspicion of being superstitious and dangerous.

"He feels resentful," said his sister, Nereida Reyna. "I thank God all this is over."