Former Gilroy High School math teacher Albert Gomez Vicuna Jr.,
32, charged with nine counts of sex crimes with a 14-year-old girl,
faced 10 years in prison.
Former Gilroy High School math teacher Albert Gomez Vicuna Jr., 32, charged with nine counts of sex crimes with a 14-year-old girl, faced 10 years in prison.
In an astounding outcome, unfortunately sanctioned by Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr, Vicuna Jr. plead no contest to the charges and will spend one year in jail and subsequently be placed on probation.
It’s difficult to fathom. The perpetrator in this case worked with children as a teacher. He actively trolled the Internet chatting with underage girls – 120 of them between the ages of 13 and 17 according to police – before arranging a meeting with the 14-year-old San Jose girl. She told police that she attempted to resist his sexual advances before the situation deteriorated.
If those facts do not define a sexual predator in his infancy who deserves the maximum sentence – or at least a fight from the DA’s office for that sentence – then we’re missing something.
California’s statutory rape law makes it clear:
“Any person over the age of 21 years who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years of age is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.”
State prison would have fitting.
The Internet chat police had with Vicuna Jr. after the girl gave police her Tagged.com password made Vicuna Jr.’s mindset abundantly clear. Reporter Sara Suddes wrote: “Vicuna – believing he was chatting with the victim – assured the girl that she wasn’t pregnant and advised her to erase all evidence of their correspondence. He also wrote that he wanted to see the victim again and ‘maybe do a lil more,’ a comment he followed up by sending a winking emoticon.”
In a year, Vicuna Jr. will be out on the streets again. Sadly, it’s not a case that shouts “justice has been done.” Rather, it’s a pitiful effort that will likely result in a predator being back on the streets and ready to prey on vulnerable young girls in the near future.
The case does point out, however, the necessity for parents to speak with their children about the dangers lurking in cyberspace. Monitoring your child’s Internet movements on a reasonable level is not intruding on their freedom, it’s protecting them from predators.
Vicuna posed as 15-year-old Juan G. in order to make the connections he did before picking out a vulnerable young girl and striking.
Unfortunately, the DA struck out on this case and the only recourse left is to attempt to protect our children by educating them.
