Aurora teacher arrested on allegations of sexual conduct, abuse of minor

Mark Lindrud

Arizona police arrested a longtime Denver-metro school teacher Wednesday after allegations of sexual conduct and abuse against a minor made earlier this year, according to the Oro Valley Police Department.

Mark Lindrud, 49, is employed as a Spanish teacher at Vista Peak Preparatory school in the Aurora Public Schools District, where he has worked since 2018. The district placed him on administrative leave following his arrest, district spokeswoman Patti Moon said.

“Please know that we take this matter seriously and have been cooperating fully with the Oro Valley Police Department as they continue their investigations,” school principal Jason Maclin wrorte in a letter to parents, staff and students on Wednesday. “This allegation is deeply disturbing, and my focus will remain on supporting our Vista PEAK Preparatory community,” Maclin wrote in the letter obtained by the Denver Gazette.

All people hired by the district undergo background checks, including one by the state of Colorado and FBI. Maclin said there were no indications of Lindrud being involved in “prior inappropriate behavior or criminal activity.”

Warrants for multiple counts of sexual conduct with a minor and sexual abuse of a minor were issued last week when Oro Valley police learned Lindrud was living in Aurora, Sgt. Amy Graham of the department six miles north of Tucson said. 

“The victim had some sort of contact with him and that’s how we found out where he was,” Graham said. 

Oro Valley officials last week contacted the Aurora Police Department about Lindrud’s active warrants and assisted them in arresting him, officials said. 

The allegations stem from a victim who said Lindrud abused her beginning in 2002, while she was a freshman at Ironwood Ridge High School, Graham said.

During the investigation, authorities learned Lindrud worked in at least eight different Denver metro schools during his 20-year teaching career, and believe there may be additional victims, officials said.

“Since he worked at multiple schools in the metro area, we are concerned that others might not have reported him,” Matthew Longshore, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department wrote in an email statement to The Denver Gazette. 

Lindrud is being held in the Arapahoe County Detention Center and awaiting extradition to Arizona. 

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