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The Pajarito Elementary School community has "mixed feelings" about its principal's future, but he can return to the school if the District Attorney's Office declines to prosecute him, Superintendent Beth Everitt says.

If the case is closed, "there's no reason for him not to come back," to the South Valley school, Everitt said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier Tuesday, Bernalillo County sheriff's detectives said the story told by a 17-year-old girl who said she was raped by the principal five years ago didn't stand up.

"I believe something happened to her, but I don't believe it was (the principal)," Sheriff's Detective Dorena Torres said.

The case has been given to the District Attorney's Office, which could still decide to pursue charges, even though the teen has made it clear to detectives that she does not want to participate in the investigation.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Trabaudo on Tuesday gave no indication as to when a decision would be made on whether to pursue prosecuting the principal.

"We have some work to do," said Trabaudo, who heads the office's Crimes Against Children division. "We always like to make sure we have as much information as possible before we make a decision."

Everitt said the principal has had a successful career in the district since 2000 when he was hired. He was appointed principal at Pajarito in 2005.

"The teachers want him back," Everitt said of the principal, who has been on paid administrative leave since Sept. 20 when allegations first surfaced. "He needs to go back," she said.

But if he is not comfortable returning to Pajarito, the district "will work with him to find something else," Everitt said.

She acknowledged that there are "certainly mixed feelings" in the Pajarito community over the accusations. But, the community is full of "wonderful teachers and parents" who "I hope believe in justice. Again, you're innocent until proven guilty," Everitt said.

"We hope the public is respectful of that."

The district is prepared to meet with parents and staff about the principal's possible return, she said, although nothing will be scheduled until the District Attorney's Office makes a decision.

The Pajarito principal will remain on paid leave until the district attorney's decision is announced, she said. To date, he has been paid $9,692.

The Sheriff's Department on Tuesday released a report on its investigation of the allegations. According to the report:

The girl's older sister saw the principal at Pajarito when she was applying for a job.

Shortly thereafter, the teen's mother confronted the man at his school, accusing him of raping her daughter when she was in fifth or sixth grade at Polk Middle School about five years ago.

The girl, who was sexually active with an 18-year-old at the time of the alleged attack, gave a descriptive account of an assault she said happened in her classroom at Polk. She alleged that a man working on a classroom computer had been blowing kisses to her, then attacked her, ripping her underwear and raping her.

She said that after the assault, she ran from the room and ditched the rest of the day's classes with a friend and the friend's older sister.

But the accused principal, who knew the teen's family through sports, never worked at Polk Middle School — not as a contractor, substitute, teacher or other post. White said his detectives compiled an extensive timeline of the principal's employment to determine that he never worked at the school.

And detectives said the friend mentioned in the girl's story didn't remember the incident and doesn't have any siblings.

Still, the girl's behavior then and now indicate to detectives that something traumatic happened to her around the time she alleges she was attacked.

The teen told detectives that she told her parents about being raped by a "carnie" and then said it was by a substitute teacher, but the parents did not file a report at the time.

She pretended to go to school and instead hid in her closet under sleeping bags and blankets crying.

According to the report, the teen now uses heroin three times a day and is pregnant.

"It is very sad," White said. "It's clear that something happened to her."