SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A state appellate court panel has vacated a former Granite Hills High School teacher's child sexual abuse material and child molestation convictions related to sexual misconduct involving an underage former female student.
Gerald Lopez, who taught English and coached sports at the East County school, was arrested in 2022 by El Cajon police after the then-17-year-old victim's mother discovered a series of text messages between her daughter and Lopez.
Lopez was convicted by an El Cajon jury in 2024 of a felony count of possessing child sexual abuse material and a misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child, then sentenced to a suspended term of six months in county jail, plus probation.
The same jury acquitted Lopez of more than a dozen other charges and hung on five counts of sending harmful material to a minor, which were later dismissed.
An opinion issued Friday from a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal said there was insufficient evidence to support the child sexual abuse material conviction, which concerned a photograph the victim sent to Lopez.
The appellate panel ruled that the picture did not show the girl engaging in "sexual conduct," and thus the conviction could not stand.
Further, the panel ruled that jurors were allowed to hear several days of "irrelevant and prejudicial testimony (from the victim) explaining how Lopez's statements and actions made her feel," while the defense was denied an opportunity to present rebuttal evidence to counter her testimony.
While the trial judge ruled in hindsight that the victim's testimony should have been excluded because it was not relevant to the charges, the judge also ruled that the defense's planned counter-evidence was also irrelevant and inadmissible and could not be presented. Jurors were later instructed to disregard large portions of the girl's testimony, which the appellate panel said was likely confusing to the jury.
While the misdemeanor child molestation count was vacated because of the issue involving the victim's testimony, the appellate panel said there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction and that Lopez could be retried on that count.
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