San Angelo prostitution arrests include Angelo State University professor

Three men — including a professor at Angelo State University — were arrested Thursday on accusations of soliciting prostitution.

Michael Edward Hettick, 56, Jeffrey Arron Cuellar, 49, both of San Angelo, and Leonard Eugene Pressley, 50, of Lubbock, were booked into the Tom Green County Jail on Thursday on suspicion of Class B misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution, which is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000.

The men had all been released on bond Friday. Cuellar and Pressley had a $500 bail.

Hettick, an adjunct professor in ASU's Department of Curriculum and Instruction, was also charged with evading arrest. He had a $1,000 bond.

The arrests were a result of a joint, undercover investigation by The Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division and Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office.

DPS special agents led the investigation effort to identify and apprehend sexual predators participating in the solicitation of prostitution, according to a DPS news release.

"We can't comment on a personnel matter," said Becky Brackin, director of communications and marketing at ASU. "It is, of course, under investigation and as soon as we know more we will handle it appropriately."

Hettick's faculty page on ASU's website was taken down minutes after the Standard-Times contacted the university seeking comment on Hettick's arrest.

However, a resume hosted on angelo.edu showed his previous work experience. The date of its creation is not clear, but it contained the following information about his previous jobs and education:

August-2007-present — Special education teacher at San Angelo's Fairview Campus for Small Schools Cooperative

August 1998-May 2000 — Teacher of Psychology and Bible and coach of boys and girls golf at Midland Christian High School

Feb. 2005-Aug. 2007 — Program manager and educator for Right Choices for Youth, a Shannon Medical Center program that promoted "abstinence from risky behaviors." There, he "participated in the writing and monitoring of multi-million dollar federal and state abstinence grants."

He also was a youth and family minister at a Midland church May 1996-August 2000

and a youth minister at a Corpus Christi church August 1992-April 1996 and a Norman, Oklahoma church June 1989-August 1992.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Bible, with an emphasis in Youth and Family Studies, from Lubbock Christian University in 1987 before earning a Master of Education in counseling from the University of Oklahoma in 1992.

He also earned school counseling credentials from National University in Fresno, California, in August 2001.

The arrest reports were not available Friday. The Standard-Times will follow up on this story when that information is released.

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