A San Pedro teacher convicted earlier this year of sexual assault offences involving underage students will remain behind bars after the court denied his bid to pause his sentence while he appeals. Alex Jason Noralez, forty-seven, of Barracuda Street in the Boca del Rio area, was sentenced to eighteen months in prison after being found guilty on two counts in January. He had sought a stay of execution as part of an inferior appeal, hoping to be released on bail while that appeal is heard. But on February twenty-seventh, that application was denied, meaning Noralez continues serving his sentence at the Belize Central Prison. The appeal returned before Justice Candace Nanton today, but it could not proceed. Attorney Leeroy Banner appeared on behalf of Noralez, substituting for Richard “Dickie” Bradley. The matter has now been adjourned to September twenty-fifth. Before then, the court ordered both sides to file the necessary documents. Noralez’s grounds of appeal must be submitted on or before August fourteenth, 2026, while the respondent’s reply is due by August twenty-eighth. Noralez was convicted earlier this year, on two of three charges and acquitted on the third. At trial, he denied wrongdoing. The magistrate ordered that his two eighteen-month sentences run concurrently, meaning he will serve a total of eighteen months. He remains remanded to the Belize Central Prison pending the next hearing.
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