CHULA VISTA, Calif. - A substitute teacher and ROTC instructor at Mar Vista High School pleaded guilty Monday to having sex with a 17-year-old female student.
Martin Albert Gallegos, 48, pleaded guilty in San Diego County Superior Court to charges including felony statutory rape. He will be sentenced on Sept. 23. His case had been scheduled to go to trial Sept. 12.
Gallegos was arrested April 9, one day after a campus police officer got a report about the alleged crimes, said sheriff's Lt. Dan Brislin. The victim was a senior at the Imperial Beach school, authorities said. The alleged sexual assaults took place on Feb. 29 and March 5, according to a criminal complaint.
Gallegos worked for the Sweetwater Union High School District since last fall, filling in periodically for full-time teachers, according to SUHSD.
Gallegos was one of three authority figures at Mar Vista recently accused of having inappropriate relationships with teens.
On July 29, Edward Aaron Mendoza, 27, admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl over a several-month period. He pleaded guilty to four charges, including lewd acts on a child, and faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 11. Mendoza worked as a walk-on assistant football coach. He left Mar Vista High in December, when the football season ended. He was also arrested in April.
A third man, 20-year-old Alejandro Rodriguez, worked as a tutor at Mar Vista. He was arrested March 9on charges of having sex with an underage male student at the school. The alleged sexual assaults occurred on Feb. 21 and Feb. 28 of this year.
