Winton school employee arrested, put on leave for alleged ‘inappropriate conduct’
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- Student supervisor arrested on felony charge of lewd acts with a child under 14.
- District placed employee on administrative leave and notified parents via memo.
- Sheriff’s office opened investigation immediately; district cites confidentiality limits.
A student supervisor at Sybil Crookham Elementary School in Winton was arrested Thursday by Merced County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Edward Raymond Parsons 34, was booked on three counts of felony lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years. Bond was set at $450,000.
A representative for the Sheriff’s Office said deputies were notified of possible child sexual assault by school officials. The report alleged that the school employee “sexually assaulted three female juveniles, one aged 9 years old and two aged 10 years old.” The alleged assaults took place on the Sybil Crookham campus.
Parents received a memo from the Winton School District Superintendent See Lao on Friday morning. According to the letter, the district “acted immediately” after learning of Parsons’ alleged “inappropriate conduct after school on Wednesday, March 11.”
Parsons was placed on administrative leave effective Thursday.
According to Lao, the Sheriff’s Office began its investigation the same evening the alleged crime was reported.
The memo acknowledges that “because this matter involves an active law enforcement investigation and confidential personnel matter, the District is limited in the information (it) can share at this time.”
The Merced Sun-Star reached out to the Winton School District, but Lao said she cannot comment further on the case.
The district refused to state how long it has employed Parsons , but Transparent California — the state’s largest public pay and pension database — shows that Parsons received pay from the school district beginning in 2018.
Lao would not comment further on the responsibilities of a student supervisor, but a since-removed version of the elementary school’s staff page lists Parsons as a “yard supervisor.”
The investigation is ongoing, said the Sheriff’s Office information officer, who encouraged anyone with information about the case to contact Detectives Melisa Gutierrez and Darren Stevens at 209-385-7472.
This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM.
