Assistant principal of D65’s Washington Elementary charged with sexual abuse of child

(Editor’s Notes: This story was updated at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11. Please be advised that this article contains descriptions of sexual violence that may be disturbing and distressing.)

Two employees of Evanston-Skokie Community Consolidated School District 65 — an assistant principal at an elementary school and a paraprofessional — were arrested last week after acting together in the sexual abuse of juveniles, as first reported by the Evanston RoundTable.

Chicago police on Thursday, Feb. 5, arrested Carlos Mendez, 51, at his home in Chicago. Mendez reportedly had been on a leave of absence from his role as assistant principal at Washington Elementary since Oct. 28, 2025; he was previously accused and cleared of inappropriate behavior in 2023.

Police also arrested Maribel Flores Hernandez, a paraprofessional at Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center in Evanston who reportedly was dating Mendez and had been on a leave of absence from the district since Jan. 16.

Mendez was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child, domestic battery and being a fugitive with an out-of-state warrant. Flores Hernandez was charged with criminal sexual assault of a family member under 18.

In a statement provided to the RoundTable, D65 spokesperson Hannah Dillow said the allegations against Mendez do not involve any District 65 students.

“It is the District’s understanding that the allegations in question are unrelated to his professional responsibilities and do not involve any District 65 students. The safety and wellbeing of our community remains our highest priority,” Dillow said. “While these allegations are deeply concerning, this is a personnel matter and we are unable to share additional details at this time.”

A statement Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center’s director, Narishea Parham, emailed to community members on Wednesday reiterates that “the allegations in question are unrelated to (Flores Hernandez’s) professional responsibilities and do not involve any District 65 students.”

Mendez and Flores Hernandez remain in custody; in the order denying Mendez’s pretrial release, a judge states that Mendez sexually abused his girlfriend’s family member through “coordination of grooming and coercion.” 

“This is extremely dangerous behavior and he is a threat to (victims) and all children,” the judge wrote. 

In court on Friday, Feb. 6, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office alleged that Mendez and Flores Hernandez began abusing a 13-year-old family member of Flores Hernandez’s in August 2023. 

The prosecution’s preliminary evidence also alleges that Mendez and Flores Hernandez sexually abused another juvenile — a 13-year-old family member of Mendez’s — during a family vacation in Miami in June 2025. 

The court document says Mendez repeatedly encouraged his family member to repeat what happened in Miami, until the 13-year-old disclosed to a separate adult on Oct. 24, 2025, that the teen was afraid to go to Mendez’s residence. 

The Department of Children and Family Services reportedly was notified of the alleged abuse on Oct. 25. Police interviewed the DCFS case worker on Oct. 28, and Evanston police were notified on Oct. 29 after police learned Mendez was an employee at Washington Elementary, according to court documents. 

D65 notified Washington parents in October 2025 that Mendez would be on leave from his role at the school but did not give parents further details, the RoundTable reported.

In District 65

According to a 2013 profile on Mendez by the Daily Northwestern, he was born in Cuba and came to Chicago via Miami around 2003. 

He taught in Chicago for five years before arriving at Evanston’s Haven Middle School. Mendez became principal of D65’s Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School, a school in Skokie that will close before next school year, in 2013, and eventually shifted to assistant principal at Washington Elementary.

Mendez was previously assigned to a leave of absence in 2023 when a Washington Elementary School parent accused him of inappropriate behavior and reported him to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that year. 

Local and state authorities apparently investigated before Mendez was cleared of the accusations, and D65’s then-Chief of Schools Lydia Turner said in an email that she reviewed evidence from the alleged incident and “the video footage confirms that this allegation is false,” Evanston Now reported in 2023.

Mendez reportedly told the D65 board on March 20, 2023, that “unfortunately, based on false information,” an email was sent to the district by a parent who “decided to attack me and accuse me of something that is not true.”

A number of teachers, staff members and PTA representatives expressed support for Mendez during a public board meeting that year, with some describing the allegations as racist slander, the RoundTable reported.

The alleged crimes

According to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, Mendez and Flores Hernandez began sexually abusing her family member in Chicago in 2023; they allegedly told the teen to “get used to” being touched, instructed the teen to undress and gave the teen a “massage.” 

Mendez and Flores Hernandez allegedly regularly gave the teen so-called massages over the course of the next two years. The two adults were also naked during these “massages” and at least once forced the teen to “massage” each of them together, court documents allege. 

Flores Hernandez at some point insisted that Mendez show the teen how to touch themself, and Mendez sexually assaulted the teen at least twice in October 2025, court documents allege. 

On Nov. 26, 2025, the teen was interviewed at the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center but first disclosed the alleged sexual assaults to a separate adult several weeks later. 

On Jan. 7, 2026, the teen was treated at a Chicago hospital and the same day reported the alleged sexual assaults to the advocacy center. 

Mendez and Flores Hernandez allegedly sexually abused a family member of Mendez in June 2025 while on a family vacation in Miami.

During that trip, the court document alleges, Mendez repeatedly spoke to a teenage family member about sexual activity and instructed the teen to touch themself while Mendez and Flores Hernandez had sex in front of the teen.

Mendez “continued to harass” the teen “about repeating what occurred in Miami” after they returned home, according to the prosecution. The teen reportedly disclosed the alleged sexual assault to a separate adult on Oct. 24. 

Six days later, on Oct. 30, the teen described the alleged sexual assaults at the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. It was during those interviews that the teen said that there may be another victim — the family member of Flores Hernandez, the document states. 

Mendez and Flores Hernandez have outstanding warrants out of Florida for the sexual assault of Mendez’s family member. The two have no other criminal history on file. Mendez is being held without bond and is expected to appear in court Feb. 25. 

Mendez’s photo and information listing him as the assistant principal at Washington Elementary was still online as of Wednesday afternoon.

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