A Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher accused of inappropriately touching a student must stand trial for lewd acts on a minor and other offenses, a judge ruled Thursday.

Mario Manuel Valenzuela, 42, of Coachella was arrested in February following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.

At the end of a preliminary hearing Thursday, Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling found there was sufficient evidence to bound Valenzuela over for trial on the lewd acts count, as well as annoying or molesting a minor under 18 years old.

The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Sept. 11 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. The defendant is free on a $10,000 bond.

According to sheriff’s investigators, reports of alleged illicit acts involving the defendan

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