A former Rockport-Fulton Independent School District teacher has been arrested on charges of an improper relationship between an educator and student, while a civil lawsuit with similar accusations continues.
An indictment for Joshua Nguyen was filed Aug. 6, charging him with four felony counts. Nguyen is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse and sexual contact with a student while he was a teacher at Rockport-Fulton High School in 2025.
Nguyen taught the school's maritime program. He left the school in September 2025, taking a job as executive director of the Aransas County Navigation District. He was placed on administrative leave and ultimately terminated in May after his December arrest.
Nguyen's teacher certification is under indefinite
suspension, which indicates that the educator has been arrested for certain offenses. The suspension remains in effect until the final resolution of the criminal matter and a hearing by the State Board of Educator Certification.
In December, the Rockport Police Department shared that it had obtained arrest warrants for Nguyen after receiving reports of an alleged improper relationship.
In May, the family of a student filed a civil lawsuit against Nguyen, as well as the Rockport-Fulton Independent School District, Texas Coastal Academy and Nguyen's brothers Brandon and Brennen Nguyen. Joshua Nguyen was the director of the Texas Coastal Academy, an educational maritime program.
The family's petition alleges that Nguyen began grooming the student when she was 14 or 15 years old, establishing "a false sense of security with the victim's parents by providing constant updates and photos" of her work while isolating her. The petition describes frequent contact outside of school hours.
The petition alleges that the student, a minor, was pressured into sexual acts and sexually assaulted by Joshua, Brandon and Brennen Nguyen multiple times and offered to a third party for sexual purposes. Joshua, Brennen and Brandon Nguyen each submitted documents in the civil lawsuit denying all of the allegations against them.
The petition alleges that the school district knew of the relationship but did not notify parents or intervene effectively. Rockport-Fulton ISD denied the allegations against it in documents filed for the civil lawsuit.
Joshua Nguyen filed a counterclaim for emotional distress in June, later filing a notice of nonsuit dropping the counterclaim.
The cases have not yet gone to trial.
Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Former Rockport-Fulton teacher charged with improper relationship with student
