Ex-HISD middle school teacher accused of sexually assaulted 14-year-old girl he was driving home, court documents say

Court documents claim Vanwright on several occasions drove the girl home and at some point started talking with her on video calls in the evenings.

HOUSTON — A former Tanglewood Middle School teacher is accused of having an improper relationship with a 14-year-old student and sexually assaulting her, according to court documents.

Dale Lamar Vanwright, 63, has been charged with sexual performance by a child, improper relationship between educator and student, and indecency with a child by contact.

Court documents claim Vanwright on several occasions drove the girl home and at some point started talking with her on video calls in the evenings. The girl told police that in February, he asked he to "expose her breast to him" on one of the calls. The court documents also said Vanwright "would tell her how to pleasure herself...while he watched."

She said he did so from his living room and told her that he would immediately hang up if his wife walked into the room. The documents claim he asked her to expose herself to him while on video call multiple times.

While driving the girl home on May 8, Vanwright is accused of pulling into an empty parking lot, reclining his seat and asking her to sit on his lap. She told police that Vanwright sexually assaulted her during this incident while she repeatedly told him to stop.

The documents claim Vanwright admitted to talking to the girl on the phone, but denied the incident in the parking lot. He was previously suspended by the district in March when he was accused of hugging and kissing another 14-year-old student, according to the charging document.

A judge set his bond at $50,000 for each charge for a total of $150,000. Should he make bond, he will not be allowed within 200 feet of the victim and her school. The judge said he is not to have any contact with children under the age of 17 nor live near a place where children gather. He will also be ordered to surrender his passport.

At his probable cause hearing, his court-appointed attorney said Vanwright taught technology design at the school. The attorney said he's been a teacher for 34 years but has had to file for bankruptcy after losing his job.

We have reached out to Houston ISD for comment on the charges and more information on Vanwright's employment status.