A judge has ordered a 72-year-old substitute teacher to stay away from schools in western Indiana after he allegedly menaced two students in a fourth grade classroom.

Louis Gudino Jr. of Clinton, Indiana appeared Monday via video at a brief hearing in Parke Circuit Court in Rockville, Indiana. His attorney, Michael Slagle, entered a not guilty plea to two felony charges of battery on a person younger than age 14 and a misdemeanor intimidation charge.

According to a report filed by Rockville Police Chief Randal Kneeland, students stated that while Gudino was in a classroom at Rockville Elementary School on Thursday, he placed an elastic cord around a student’s neck and threatened to stab the student in the eye with a pen. Gudino allegedly placed the cord around another student’s neck as well, while making the student walk to the front of the class and kneel down.

Gudino is also alleged to have put his hands around the neck of a student and said he was going to choke him.

The report also states that Gudino told the students he was in a gang, showed them a picture of himself in high school wearing a jacket with a gang patch on it, and told them that he was the cousin of Mexican drug lord “El Chapo.”

Additionally, according to the report, Gudino also told a student he was going to kill her and to “watch her back,” and he told the students to call him “Sweet Lou” or he would get violent.

Kneeland interviewed Gugino on Friday, the police report states, Gudino denied that he told the students he was going to kill them, but admitted to putting his hands around a student’s neck and telling the boy he was going to choke him. Gudino also admitted to Kneeland that he placed the stretchy cord around a student’s neck and threatened to stab the child in the eye, saying that he came about 3 inches from the student’s face with the pen, but did not intend to harm the child.

Gudino told Kneeland that he said those things in humor and had said similar things to students at other schools as humor, the report states. He said he never meant them, but admitted that he used such statements at times to intimidate kids into behaving in class.

Judge Sam Swaim set Gudino’s bail at $10,000 with $1,000 cash allowed, but ordered him to live in Indianapolis with his adult daughter so that Gudino would be close to the Veterans Administration hospital, where he has medical appointments. Swaim also ordered Gudino not to substitute teach, and not to enter school property owned by North Central Parke or Southwest Parke school districts, where he had previously filled classroom slots as a substitute teacher.

Kneeland told the Terre Haute, Indiana Tribune Star that since Gudino’s arrest Friday, parents of other students have called about past incidents involving the substitute teacher.

Thomas Rohr, superintendent of North Central Parke Community School Corp., told the Tribune-Star that he was unaware of a previous allegation involving Gudino at Rosedale Elementary, because that is in another school district. No criminal investigation or charges were reported.

Rohr said that Gudino first substituted for the school district in 2011.

The current process to become a substitute involves applying at the school district’s central office and receiving a substitute license. The applicant must have 30 hours of college credit and be at least age 21. If the applicant passes a criminal history background check, the person can be approved as a substitute.

Gudino has also served as a substitute teacher at South Vermillion School Corp., where Superintendent David Chapman said he was shocked to hear the allegations against him. He said he contacted the principal at each building in the district to see if there had been any complaints filed against Gudino, and found that there had been none.

At Southwest Parke Community School Corp., however, Rosedale Elementary Principal Diana Spence said one parent did complain about Gudino after an incident on Nov. 2, 2015.

“Southwest Parke immediately investigated the complaint and found that, while Mr. Gudino did not meet acceptable standards for a substitute teacher at Southwest Parke, there was no evidence of harm to students,” Spence wrote in an email to the Tribune-Star. “Southwest Parke, nevertheless, terminated Mr. Gudino’s services as a substitute teacher. Southwest Parke provided law enforcement with information related to this incident, but Southwest Parke is not aware of any ongoing criminal investigation regarding any incident at Southwest Parke.”

Gudino has been ordered to attend a pretrial hearing on June 2. His trial date was set for July 19.

Trigg writes for the Terre Haute, Indiana Tribune Star.