SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A former San Diego firefighter pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Justin Curtis Price, 36, formerly a fire engineer-paramedic who had been with the city public-safety agency for 10 years, was arrested last April for the Nov. 1, 2018, sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl.
Prosecutors said Price had known the teen since she was about 9 or 10 years old.
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Price is slated to be sentenced April 24 to five years felony probation and could also face up to one year in jail, according to Deputy District Attorney Jessica Coto. The sentencing judge will decide how much jail time Price could serve and whether he will have to register as a sex offender.
Preliminary hearing testimony from last fall indicated Price admitted to having sex with the teen about two weeks after her 17th birthday in text messages with the girl's mother.
San Diego police Detective Jeremy Margolis testified that he interviewed the victim, who said Price told her not to tell anyone about what happened, and that it would be "our little secret."
