Monte Alto ISD school nurse charged with two counts of indecency with a child

Ruben Del Toro, 46, a school nurse in the Monte Alto Independent School District, has been charged with two counts of indecency with a child after a Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office investigation that began with a mother's report in August.

Del Toro was arrested and arraigned September 30 and released the same day on a $100,000 bond. The charges remain allegations; Del Toro has not been adjudicated and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Monte Alto is a small, rural Hidalgo County district of roughly 765 students across three campuses — one elementary, one middle, and one high school — with about 88.5 percent of students classified as economically disadvantaged. The school nurse is the adult a child is sent to for the cuts, fevers, and scrapes of an ordinary school day, and in a district this size, it is a face every student comes to know.

The investigation

The case started August 20, 2026, when the child's mother contacted the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office and reported that her child said a male school nurse had touched the child inappropriately during school hours, and that similar incidents had happened several times over the year.

According to a criminal complaint, Del Toro is accused of touching a 10-year-old student in the genital/groin area several times over the course of a year at the school nurse's station while the student was being treated for foot pain.

The child repeated the allegation during a forensic interview and a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) examination.

The Sheriff's Office has called the investigation months-long, though the mother's August 20 report and Del Toro's September 30 arrest sit a little over a month apart. The district said the investigation remains ongoing.

The Sheriff's Office asked anyone with additional information to call 956-383-8114, and anonymous tips can be made to Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at 956-668-TIPS (8477).

The district's response

Monte Alto ISD said it suspended Del Toro immediately after learning of the allegations and that it is cooperating with investigators and law enforcement.

In a written statement, the district said "the safety and well-being of our students remain the district's highest priority" and that it will continue cooperating with authorities while protecting student privacy and respecting the ongoing investigation.

But the district has been specific about little else. Monte Alto ISD said officials learned of the allegations "earlier this month" — meaning September — without giving an exact date, that they learned September 30 that an arrest warrant had been issued for the employee, and that the employee was not named in the initial statement.

As of October 6, 2026, Del Toro was still listed as the district nurse on the Monte Alto ISD website even though the district said he had been suspended.

What families still don't know

Under Texas Penal Code Section 21.11, indecency with a child by sexual contact is a second-degree felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine, for sexual contact involving a child younger than 17.

The case sits with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff J.E. "Eddie" Guerra.

With the investigation still open and the district's timeline vague, the case has not answered what the district knew in the weeks between a mother's August phone call and a September arrest.