Last updated Feb. 12 at 5:59 p.m.
Content warning: This story contains mentions of sexual abuse of a minor.
Washington Elementary School Assistant Principal Carlos Mendez was arrested in Chicago Feb. 5 on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor, domestic battery and evading an out-of-state warrant.
Mendez has been on a leave of absence from his post at Washington since October for unknown reasons. He has worked for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 since 2011, including serving as principal of Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies.
Maribel Flores-Hernandez, identified as Mendez’s girlfriend, was also charged in the case, according to records from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Flores-Hernandez works as a paraprofessional at Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Education Center.
Charging documents allege that Mendez, in cooperation with his girlfriend, abused an underage family member of Flores-Hernandez for two years in Chicago. Flores-Hernandez faces charges of criminal sexual assault of a family member under 18.
Mendez’s out-of-state warrant was issued in Florida. It alleges that Mendez and Flores-Hernandez also sexually abused an underage family member of Mendez during a vacation to Miami in June, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Mendez has waived extradition to Florida.
The underage family member alerted their biological mother about the alleged abuse in the months following the vacation, the charging documents allege. The mother contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and when IDCFS learned Mendez was an assistant principal, the Evanston Police Department was notified in October, according to the charging document.
“Carlos Mendez has been on a leave of absence from his position with the District since October 28, 2025,” a District 65 spokesperson wrote in a Wednesday statement to The Daily. “It is the District’s understanding that the allegations in question are unrelated to his professional responsibilities and do not involve any District 65 students.”
Mendez is being held in Cook County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 25 at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.
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