Former social worker arrested for sexual misconduct with students had arrest history for rape, other charges

An arrest report for Lawrence Anthony Winston revealed the 31-year-old had been arrested for other crimes in the past, including rape, two separate battery charges, and several traffic offenses before CCSD ever hired him as a Safe School Professional. The school district said Winston was a social worker who was in the process of becoming a licensed school social worker.

Clark County School Police arrested Winston after investigating claims he had inappropriate contact with two students at Chaparral High School. Winston was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

He faces the following charges:

One felony count of kidnapping

Two felony counts of child abuse

Sexual misconduct and two counts of open and gross lewdness

One of the alleged victim’s account is detailed in Winston’s arrest report.

Earlier this week Winston’s alleged victim also shared her story with 8 News NOW.

“Experiencing that was a big shock and very traumatizing for me,” she said.

On Friday, the alleged victim’s mother found out about Winston’s previous arrest history, saying even if he wasn’t convicted of past crimes, he should not have been allowed to work at her daughter’s school.

“That’s definitely someone I don’t want in my daughter’s school,” said Bonnie Devito, the victim’s mother said. “Just the fact that he was accused of these things would put up a red flag for me.”

A spokesperson for the Clark County School District responded to Winston’s history:

“District staff run background checks on all employees before they are hired and we will not hire convicted felons.”

However, the district wouldn’t say if Winston’s arrests showed up in his background check.

Progressus Therapy, the company that contracted Winston with CCSD, issued the following statement:

“Mr. Winston was terminated immediately upon his arrest. As per Progressus Therapy’s company policy, a criminal background and sex offender check was completed prior to his employment. Staff are not permitted to begin any assignment until they are cleared by both Progressus and the district. The safety of students is our utmost priority and we will continue to work in cooperation with CCSD as they support local authorities in the investigation.”

Devito says neither CCSD nor Progressus Therapy’s answers was enough.

“I would hope the school district would be more protective of children in subcontracting people or employing people,” she said. “There’s always more subcontractors they could’ve picked.”

8 News NOW also reached out to Nevada’s Department of Education for answers, and a representative said Winston was not in their system as an applicant for his license with the school district.

The Department of Education also said that had Winston applied, he would have gone through a background check with the department, nd his history with the law, convicted or not, would have shown up.