Drama teacher and anime voice actor, 41, who was 'caught in sexual relationship with 16-year-old student'... took her to Las Vegas and MARRIED her (with her mother’s blessing) after cops began to investigate
By MICHAEL ZENNIE
A 41-year-old anime voice actor and drama teacher from Houston started a sexual relationship with one of his 16-year-old students and when police caught on, he took her to Las Vegas and married her - with her mother's consent, police say. Investigators believe Ilich Guardiola was trying to cover his tracks when he took the girl and her mother to a quickie wedding in Nevada - one week after the teen told police that she and her teacher were 'in love.'Guardiola was arrested Thursday at his apartment in Spring Valley, Texas - in front of his new teenage bride. He cannot be prosecuted for any sexual contact that he had with the girl after they were married - it's a legally binding union.
However, police believe he also he and the girl were together before they were married. Officers stopped Guardiola for speeding on April 14 with the girl in his car. He said he was simply taking her home. But her story didn't match up. She eventually told officers that she and Guardiola were 'in love' and that they had had sex at his apartment at least two times. When officers confiscated Guardiola's phone, they found multiple text messages between the two, including one in which the girl told him 'I love having sex with you.'
He is a teacher, director and actor at the Houston Family Arts Center - a community theater organization whose mission is to provide 'a safe and encouraging environment that fosters creativity, respect, personal growth, and character development' for children and teens. In March, Guardiola starred alongside the girl in the children's theater production of 'Freckleface Strawberry.' He also directed the play. The girl's mother told police she knew Guardiola was with her daughter - but said he was only supposed to be giving her a ride home.
However, according to court documents, she was present in Las Vegas when Guardiola married her 16-year-old daughter eight days later on April 22 - despite an age difference of 25 years. Children as young as 16 are allowed to marry in both Texas and Nevada - so long as they have the permission of a parent. Police told KHOU-TV that the mother agreed to the marriage because she was afraid that reporting the relationship would hurt her daughter's future acting career.
In addition to his job as a drama teacher, Guardiola is a well-known voice actor for English translations of Japanese anime. He has played minor roles in several animated movies and TV shows, including One Piece and Area 88. In one role, he voiced an older character who had seduced a young female companion. Guardiola has been married twice before. His first wife, Kaytha Coker, told MailOnline she ended her marriage of seven years to the actor because she suspected he had been unfaithful.
She said Guardiola called her several weeks ago and asked for the phone number of a brother-in-law, who is an attorney. He told her that he had been stopped by the police taking a student home and that the officers had seized his phone.
'He didn't think they could do that,' she said. Coker said she wasn't shocked by the revelation by rather, heartbroken. 'The man is unbelievably gifted and had everything in the world going for him,' she said.