A former elementary school teacher has been extradited from Ecuador to Lexington County on charges of sexual contact with a minor.

Hianlucas Isturiz Rodriguez, 42, engaged in sexual battery with a Red Bank Elementary School student multiple times while on duty at the school in 2016 and 2017, according to arrest warrants.

Isturiz, known by students and parents as “Señor Isturiz,” is charged with 3 counts of 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Isturiz arrived in Lexington County Thursday. He was being held in Ecuador awaiting extradition after he was arrested this summer, according to Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.

A judge denied bond for Isturiz on the 3 counts Tuesday.

Lexington 1 spokesperson Mary Beth Hill told the Chronicle:

Lexington District 1 conducts criminal background checks on all prospective employees.

All teachers undergo FBI fingerprinting when they apply for a SC teaching certificate.

Questions arose about background checks after Hianlucas Isturiz Rodriguez was accused of sexual contact with 2 Red Bank Elementary School students while working as a teacher.

Hill said the district conducts a SC Law Enforcement Division background check for all prospective employees and checks each prospective employee against the National Sex Offender Registry and the Central Registry of Child Abuse and Neglect maintained by the SC Department of Social Services.

The district uses a 3rd-party company to conduct a further-reaching criminal background check on any candidates who have lived outside of South Carolina within the last 10 years.

International teachers undergo a more extensive process.

At a minimum, 3rd-party immigration sponsors conduct background checks in the applicant’s country of citizenship and generally expand those searches to any countries the applicant may have lived in the last several years.

As part of their visa application and interview with the US embassy, all foreign nationals undergo extensive vetting, to include criminal background checks and review of Interpol databases, by the US Department of State and/or Department of Homeland Security.

Once they arrive in the United States, the teachers are again reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security at a US Customs and Immigration checkpoint.

In addition, foreign national teachers must undergo FBI fingerprinting when they apply for a SC teaching certificate, generally done when they arrive in the United States.