Friday, June 2, 2017 | 4:06 p.m.
Garic Wharton
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In Snapchat messages uncovered by detectives, a South Academic Center substitute teacher propositioned a 16-year-old girl for sex and asked if he could trust her, because he knew he could get in trouble if caught, according to a Clark County School District Police arrest report.
Garic Andrew Wharton II, 25, was arrested Thursday and booked at the Clark County Detention Center on one count of a school employee attempting to engage in sex with a student, police said. He was being held without bail, jail records show.
The girl told detectives that Wharton, also known as Mr. G, approached her at school on May 16 and asked for her name, telling the girl that he needed to know more about her, police said. He also asked if he could trust her, police said.
The next day, Wharton began to message the girl via Snapchat, an application in which some messages disappear after the recipient opens them, police said.
In the messages, Wharton again asked the girl if he could trust her, told her she was “amazing” and asked if she had a boyfriend.
He then explicitly proposed they “hookup,” telling the teen he could “teach (her) a few things,” according to transcripts of the messages contained in the arrest report.
After a tip from an unidentified student, authorities opened an investigation on May 18, the same day the Clark County School District fired Wharton, police said.
Wharton denied having inappropriate communications with any student, though he later admitted to detectives that he’d sent the messages to the girl. He said he was only “flirting” and didn’t intend to take any actions, police said.
Wharton was hired in February and started working at the east valley school in April, police said.
Wharton, who played football at Valley High School and went on to play at the University of Arizona, is scheduled to appear in court Monday.
