Prostitution charge dropped against N.M. man.

We reported back in November that Jeffrey Steven Clay, principal of MacArthur Intermediate School in El Paso, had been arrested for allegedly offering money for a sex act to an undercover police officer on El Paso's south side.

The charge against the 33-year-old resident of La Union was dismissed on Tuesday because of insufficient evidence, KVIA-TV (ABC-7) reported today on its Web site.

Clay's attorney, Gary Weiser, told the El Paso Times that his client had been wrongfully arrested, the Times reported today on its Web site. Weiser said police alleged that Clay approached a female undercover officer and offered her money for sex, saying in a report that the alleged deal had been recorded with a body wire and video camera, the paper said.

Weiser said, however, that his client never agreed to exchange money for sex and that the tape police claimed to have was totally inaudible, the paper reported.

Weiser told the paper that his client had been downtown the day of his arrest (Nov. 16) and spoke with a woman who asked him if he could spare some money, but he declined and drove away but was arrested by police about 2 miles from the alleged incident.

Clay was placed on paid administrative leave from the El Paso Independent School District pending an internal investigation of the incident, but it was unclear whether  Clay might return to his old position, KVIA-TV and the Times reported.

School district spokeswoman Margaret Gallardo told the paper that an internal investigation is continuing and that Clay "will continue to be reassigned until we decide our next step."

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