Las Vegas teacher Kha Nam Nguyen is facing multiple charges after having some questionable interactions with his fifth grade students at Wing and Lilly Fong Elementary School. Fifth grade can be a time when teachers loosen up a little bit and want to pal around with their students because they’re getting older, but what this teacher did is nothing short of abusing his position of authority. Police interviewed many of Nguyen’s students, and discovered that most of them were telling the same story.
The investigation began in February.
Nguyen was arrested on March 13, 2026, KSNV and Fox5 Vegas both reported. The fifth grade teacher is facing multiple counts of unlawful contact with a minor, as well as child abuse or neglect charges.
After an investigation where police talked to students and staff at the school, they gathered enough evidence to initiate the charges. He posted a $15,000 bond, but was ordered to stay away from Fong Elementary School.
Students gave details about what happened in the classroom.
During interviews with students, they described truly disturbing behavior by Nguyen, KLAS reported. He would play “knife tag” with the kids, where he would grab a “large” knife from the closet in his classroom and turn off the lights. He’d tell the kids “let’s play tag,” and warn “you guys better start running.”
Students said he would hold the knife in his fist and sometimes point the blade at them. One student claimed the teacher “pretends to stab us.” Multiple students said his behavior scared them. The knife was found by school staff where the students said it would be.
Another student said she was “often scared of [his] temper as the screaming could escalate into something physical.” Kids told investigators about an incident where Nguyen flipped a child’s desk, stepped on his belongings, and threw a book at him.
He allegedly would also “roast” the students and call them “special ed” if they got the answers to questions wrong.
The teacher was reportedly incredibly inappropriate with students, especially girls.
Multiple students said that Nguyen “openly” showed preference for female students. A few girls told police that he would play with their hair, and he allegedly complimented one girl’s legs. Several students said his behavior made them uncomfortable.
Students described the “teddy bear” game, where the teacher would pretend to cry until a student “attempted to comfort him by hugging him,” and if they didn’t, he allegedly got angry.
He would often pull the student into his lap and not let go, even if other students said they looked uncomfortable. Some students mentioned specific instances where Nguyen held the waists of girls tighter if they tried to pull away.
Allegedly, the teacher also called girls “gold diggers” and made “weird jokes” about the kids.
Nguyen took accountability for his weird behavior.
When police interviewed him, 51-year-old Nguyen “stated he had been doing some of these acts for years and justified it as a way to entertain the students along with rapport building,” KTNV reported, citing arrest reports. However, he denied ever calling the kids “special ed.”
“Throughout the interview, Nguyen justified his actions as a way to entertain kids, him just being funny, to gain the class’s attention, and for rapport building,” investigators said. “At one point during the interview, Nguyen mentioned that he could see why some of his actions were weird now that he was talking about it.”
