EXCLUSIVE: Seattle area paraeducator charged for years-long grooming of high school student

According to court documents obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Quan D. Nguyen, of Tukwila, was booked into the King County Jail on March 17, following a Renton Police Department investigation sparked by a Child Protective Services referral. The probable cause affidavit details a disturbing pattern of abuse that allegedly began when the victim, identified as JT, was a 16-year-old student at the school.

https://twitter.com/RentonpdWA/status/2034752176602718380

Investigators stated that JT, who graduated in 2024 and is now 19 and in college, first met Nguyen while seeking career advice in the school’s career center, where he worked as a paraeducator. What started as professional contact quickly escalated after a 2022 class trip to Washington State University. Nguyen became her unofficial point of contact, obtained her phone number, and began texting her “to check in.”

The victim described Nguyen as a “trusted adult” who exploited her difficult home life. He allegedly initiated her as his unofficial teacher’s assistant, gave her and her friends rides to Pokémon card shops and restaurants, sometimes taking her alone, and paid for everything. On multiple occasions, he would park a block from her house to drop her off.

According to JT, Nguyen began requesting “selfies,” which progressed to demands for nude photos. He provided specific instructions on poses and cleavage. She never sent fully nude images and said he never reciprocated with his own.

The grooming allegedly intensified when JT mentioned reading a book with “smut.” Nguyen repeatedly pushed her for details, then demanded she read the explicit passages aloud to him over the phone. He instructed her to “act out the scenes” by moaning and masturbating, which she described as “fingering herself,” while he described graphic sexual acts he wanted to perform on her. These calls lasted up to an hour. JT told detectives her voice trembled and she teared up recounting the abuse.

Physical contact allegedly began when she was 16. Nguyen reportedly groped her under her breasts and over her behind during hugs. In the school career center’s “pantry” area, he allegedly used a pen to “sign” her breast and write on her thigh and above her vaginal area. Later, when she was 17, he pulled into random parking lots after school, pulled up her bra, put his mouth on her breasts, and slid his hand down her pants to touch her vagina over her panties. She said she stopped him from going further. He repeatedly tried to pressure her into oral sex, which she refused. They never kissed, and he never forced her to touch him.

JT said friends expressed concern about the amount of time she spent with Nguyen, but she dismissed them until confiding in a counselor. She blocked him in the summer of 2025 after realizing the abuse was wrong. She provided screenshots of their conversations, including one from July 2023 showing Nguyen’s selfie, and confirmed his phone number matches law enforcement records.

The affidavit establishes probable cause for Communicating with a Minor for Immoral Purposes, a Class C felony, because Nguyen, while employed at her high school, electronically communicated with the known minor for sexual purposes. It also supports Sexual Misconduct with a Minor in the Second Degree for the inappropriate sexual contact with the 16- and 17-year-old student.

At Nguyen’s first appearance in court, the judge found probable cause for his arrest on the charge of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defense, the court set bail at $20,000. Renton police had objected to his release, noting: “Suspect is a teacher at Hazen High School, and the crime was committed against a student he interacted with daily. If released, he would still have access to other students he supervises.”

Nguyen remains in custody pending further proceedings.