L.A. principal gets probation for failing to report child abuse
He also is fined and ordered to do 100 hours of community service for his silence on a sexual encounter between a high school teacher and a student.
A Los Angeles school district administrator who allegedly failed to report a sexual encounter between a teacher and a student pleaded no contest today, and a second official facing similar allegations will appear in court next week, officials said.
Jesus I. Angulo, 35, principal of South East High School in South Gate, was charged with one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Juliet Schmidt of the district attorney's public integrity division.
Commissioner Michael Garcia sentenced Angulo to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, and ordered him to pay a $120 fine.
"The district attorney's office is not going to tolerant a code of silence when it comes to misconduct or sexual abuse in our schools or any government institution," Schmidt said.
Vice Principal Maria Sotomayor, 36, who was charged along with Angulo, is set to appear at a pretrial hearing Sept. 9.
The charges against Angulo and Sotomayor, both of Downey, stemmed from an incident in March 2007 when a substitute teacher allegedly had sex with a female student.
The substitute teacher, Jesus Salvador Saenz, 31, was charged this March with one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
The case ignited controversy when David Brewer, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, allowed the two administrators to return to the South Gate campus eight days after their arrests in May.
Prosecutors called Brewer's decision to allow the administrators to return to work very surprising and unusual. But the superintendent defended the decision to reinstate the administrators, saying it was needed to avoid disrupting the school.
Angulo and Sotomayor allegedly learned of the offense in October 2007 but failed to report the information as required by law and school district policy.
During questioning by the administrators, which lasted two to three hours, the girl recanted, authorities said. The administrators then told a school police officer about the girl's allegation but didn't tell local police or child services, as required by law. State law specifically states that reporting such claims to a school police officer is not sufficient.
Officer Luis E. Barraza of the Los Angeles School Police Department has filed a claim with the district, contending he was retaliated against for reporting allegations that a substitute teacher sexually abused a student when administrators took no action.
