VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — An Encinitas middle school staffer arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old answered to charges Wednesday.
Omar Hernandez Galeana, 21, was a campus supervisor at Diegueno Middle School for three months, before he was fired following his arrest this week.
The alleged offenses happened on March 23 and 24, and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday there are at least two victims in the case.
Galeana, appearing in court for the first time, pleaded not guilty on all charges, Galeana faces multiple felony charges, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The district attorney's office claims Galeana sexually assaulted a 12-year-old student, but he also faces charges for communicating with another 12-year-old student.
"The defendant would communicate with the minors via text messages, specifically WhatsApp," Deputy District Attorney Nereida Bowman told reporters. "He would tell these minors to delete those messages because there would be consequences for him."
Bowman claims the alleged offenses happened this past weekend, and the district attorney's office is still figuring out if there may be more victims. She said Galeana also encouraged students to smoke marijuana.
The district attorney's office successfully argued against bail, telling the judge Galeana was friendly with many students and Bowman said she feared for students at the school if he was released from jail.
"We believe that this defendant had communicated with the minors prior to (the alleged sexual assault), he was someone that worked at their school that they knew that they got to know pretty well."
ABC 10News asked Galeana's defense attorney for comment after court let out on Wednesday. The attorney declined.
Galeana's arrest is the third of a staffer at a San Diego County school in the last week.
