CHULA VISTA, Calif. (CNS) - A former Mar Vista High School campus aide who pleaded guilty to engaging in sex acts with a 17-year-old male student was sentenced Thursday to serve six months in the county's work furlough program.
Lisette Veles Ortega, 32, who was an employee of an outside contractor used by the Imperial Beach secondary school, was arrested in May. At the time, she was working for Ro Healthcare, which the company's website states is a medical staffing and home health agency that helps staff nurses at schools, correctional facilities and for private home care.
She pleaded guilty about four months after her arrest to charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and oral copulation with a minor.
Defense attorney Tom Matthews said his client was remorseful and the case "weighed on her heavily," prompting an early guilty plea. Matthews argued for a non-custodial sentence for those reasons, as well as what he said was a "marginal" impact on the victim. The attorney noted that the boy did not report what occurred to police and claimed there'd been evidence that he was boasting about it to his peers.
Deputy District Attorney Tom Willett argued the victim didn't report the crimes because Ortega had dissuaded him against it and encouraged him to delete evidence from his phone and to lie to investigators. The prosecutor also claimed that she tried to persuade the minor to flee with her to Mexico at some point when the allegations arose.
Superior Court Judge Michael Popkins agreed with the defense that she'd shown remorse and credited her with pleading guilty early on in the case, but said some form of custody should be imposed. Along with six months of work furlough, plus probation, a 10-year protective order was served on Ortega, which prohibits any contact between her and the victim.
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