A former substitute teacher for the Sweetwater Union High School District has pleaded guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl.
Martin Gallegos, 48, was also an ROTC instructor who worked at Mar Vista High School, will be sentenced on Sept. 23 by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag.
Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Matzger said Friday that Gallegos faces up to three years in jail and will likely be placed on probation. He is free on bond.
Two other charges alleging oral copulation and sexual penetration of a 12th grade girl were dismissed against Gallegos.
Gallegos’ guilty plea is the second conviction in August for someone who taught at the Imperial Beach high school.
The former assistant football coach, Edward Aaron Mendoza, 27, will be sentenced Oct. 11 by Judge Garry Haehnle.
It has not been determined yet whether Gallegos will have to register as a sex offender, but Mendoza will be required to register for life, said Matzger.
Mendoza pleaded guilty to committing three lewd acts with a 9th grade girl and to encouraging the victim to send him a photograph of a genital area. Sixteen other counts were dismissed after his guilty plea to four counts.
Mendoza remains in the South Bay Detention Facility without bail. Like Gallegos, Mendoza pleaded guilty without having a preliminary hearing and the victim did not have to testify. Gallegos waived the hearing and had been set for trial on Sept. 12.
Alejandro Rodriguez, 20, a tutor for another agency which provided services to the Sweetwater school district, is awaiting trial. Rodriguez is accused of molesting a teen-age boy and has pleaded not guilty.
Rodriguez was the first one arrested on March 9. Gallegos was arrested April 9, and Mendoza was taken into custody on April 12 in Chula Vista.
Rodriguez is free on bond. All of the cases are separate from each other and do not involve the same victims or witnesses.
