An elementary school teacher is facing charges in Las Vegas after several students accused him of calling girls “gold diggers” and pretending to stab another student, according to court documents.
On February 25, a parent called 911 to report that a teacher at Wing and Lilly Fong Elementary School in Las Vegas had engaged in ‘inappropriate’ behavior. The teacher was identified as 51-year-old Kha Nam Nguyen, according to 8 News Now.
Police responding to the call met with the principal and assistant principal of the school, where Nguyen was employed as a fifth-grade teacher.
Students who spoke to police reportedly said Nguyen “openly” favored female students and would allegedly comment on their bodies and compliment a girl’s legs. He also allegedly made “weird jokes,” including calling the girls in the classroom “gold diggers.” At least two of the girls in the class told police that Nguyen had threatened to “chop off” their hair if he learned they were dating any boys at the school.
They also alleged that the teacher would touch their faces and tell them to “rest their weight on him.” Girls who spoke to the police reportedly said he would play with their hair. Several of the students told police the alleged behavior made them feel uncomfortable and that they did not want to be touched.
Other students told police that the teacher would play something called the “teddy bear” game, in which he allegedly pretended to cry until a student came up to him and “attempted to comfort him by hugging him.” They further claimed that he would get upset if no one stepped up to hug him.
During the course of the game, Nguyen would allegedly pull students onto his lap and refuse to release them, even if they looked uncomfortable.
Another instance of alleged bizarre behavior involved a game the teacher played called “knife tag,” in which he would grab a “large” knife from his classroom closet, turn the lights off, and say “let’s play tag” before warning the students that they “better start running.”
Students claimed to the police that he would occasionally point the blade at them, and one student claimed that the teacher “pretends to stab us.” Several students told police the game frightened them.
Police searching Nguyen’s classroom reported that they located the knife in the location described by the children.
Nguyen reportedly had a temper in class and would scream at the children. Some students described an incident in which he allegedly flipped a student’s desk over, stepped on their belongings, and then threw a book at them.
A teacher who spoke to police said she had warned the school’s administrators about Nguyen after he made “advances” toward her and offered her “unwanted” gifts, according to an incident report.
When police spoke to Nguyen on March 13, he reportedly told them he’d been “doing some of these acts for years” as a way to “entertain the students.” He reportedly insisted he was “just being funny” and said when he flipped a student’s desk, he was trying to help them find a lost pencil.
He allegedly admitted to police that he did tell the boys in the classroom “not to date the girls because they were gold diggers.”
Police ultimately arrested Nguyen. He was charged with seven counts of child abuse or neglect and seven counts of unlawful contact with a minor.
He posted a $15,000 bail but was told to keep away from the school and not to have any contact with minors. He has also been ordered to wear an electronic monitoring system.
Nguyen has been employed by the Clark County School District since 2007. It’s unclear if he has been terminated from his position.
The Independent has requested comment from the school district.
