Sheriff: Brennan JROTC instructor pulled over with half-dressed teen student, charged with felony

MSgt Darrell Harris served 24 years of active service in the United States Air Force, according to the Brennan High School website. MSgt Darrell Harris served 24 years of active service in the United States Air Force, according to the Brennan High School website. Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close Sheriff: Brennan JROTC instructor pulled over with half-dressed teen student, charged with felony 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — A 48-year-old Northside ISD JROTC instructor was arrested by Cibolo police Thursday morning for allegedly having an ongoing sexual relationship with a student, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

Darrell Harris, an Air Force Reserve master sergeant working in Brennan High School’s JROTC program, was booked into the Guadalupe County Jail on a charge of improper relationship between an educator and a student, a second-degree felony. He was released after posting a $50,000 bond.

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A warrant was issued for Harris' arrest after an incident earlier this week in which deputies pulled Harris over and discovered a half-clothed teen in the backseat, according to BCSO.

A Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy saw a suspicious vehicle on Sunday parked in the 2300 block of Canthree Drive on the far West Side. The deputy tried to pull the vehicle over as the motorist, later identified as Harris, drove away.

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Following a brief pursuit, the deputy saw a teenage girl putting clothes on while sitting in the back seat, according to the news release.

Harris told the deputy he is a JROTC instructor and the girl in the vehicle was a student, who was taken to a hospital for an evaluation. She told employees at the hospital she and Harris had sex several times, starting in May, the news release said.

BCSO spokesman James Keith said Harris wasn't immediately arrested because there initially wasn't enough evidence to prove a crime was committed at the scene until the victim told hospital employees about her sexual relationship with the teacher.

Harris, who was hired to work at Brennan High School in July 2014, was placed on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 9 and remains on that leave as of noon Thursday, said Northside ISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez.

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Gonzalez said with the news of Harris’ arrest, the process of termination will be initiated and the State Board of Educators Certification will be notified.

“This is extremely distressing to us in the education business,” Gonzalez said in an interview with mySA.com. “This is not behavior we can condone and it requires swift action.”

A biography says that Harris served 24 years on active duty and held numerous leadership positions over that time, including maintenance flight line superintendent. He took the job at Brennan High School in August 2014.

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His arrival there came only a few months after an Air Force photographer was sent to prison for sexual misconduct with students at another Northside ISD high school.

Airman 1st Class Nathan G. Wilson-Crow, was given two years in prison in late April 2014 after being found guilty of sexual misconduct with San Antonio high school students at a Hill Country camp, one of them 15 years old. An Air Force prosecutor had asked for five years, saying it would deter others after Wilson-Crow led two sexually charged truth-or-dare games in April 2013 with young JROTC students from Sandra Day O’Connor High School.

If convicted, Harris faces up to 20 years in prison.

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Staff writer Sig Christenson contributed to this report.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite