Austin Preschool Employee Charged With Sexual Assault

A former preschool teacher in Austin, 26-year-old Gerald Laneaux, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault regarding two four-year-old girls. One alleged sexual assault took place at the preschool while the other sexual assault took place in Laneaux’s car.
The man was arrested after the mother of the second child said that her daughter came up to her and said she was hurting after going out with the young man on July 1, who police describe as a predator and a pedophile. The mother questioned her daughter after noticing that the girl’s underwear were not on properly. The Texas man was released from Travis County Jail on two $100,000 bonds. He could face life in prison if convicted of the two sexual assaults on minors. He was out on bond for the attack that occurred in September of 2009 when he was charged with the second, similar crime.
The second child molestation attack took place at the Goddard School in Pflugerville near Wells Branch. The owner of the Austin preschool said that although he employed Laneaux last summer, he was fired after only a few months because of various issues, including poor judgment when interacting with children.
Laneaux is a married man with two children. The owner of the Goddard School said that the man had formally been a youth minister and that Laneaux passed a background check before he was hired. However, a parent soon came forward and said that Laneaux had touched their daughter inappropriately during nap time last fall.