Prosecutors have dropped a child abuse charge against a staff member at a now-shuttered school for troubled youth who had been accused of assaulting a girl during a riot.
Gino Sanchez, 39, was charged last June with the class A misdemeanor. Prosecutors allege he punched a 17-year-old girl in the face and pulled her hair during an April riot that broke out at Red Rock Canyon School, which closed in August amid intense scrutiny over its treatment of youths.
The 128-bed facility provided residential treatment for youths ages 12 to 18 — a mix of teens whose parents pay for them to stay there, out-of-state foster children and some who are ordered to be there by a judge.