On Tuesday, a San Diego Superior Court judge dismissed multiple counts of sending harmful material to a minor filed against a former East County educator who was accused of sexual misconduct with an underage former female student and subsequently convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges.
Gerald Lopez, 56, who taught English and coached sports at Granite Hills High 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 last week of a felony count of possessing child pornography and a misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child.
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The same jury acquitted Lopez of more than a dozen other charges and hung on five counts of sending harmful material to a minor. On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge John Thompson dismissed the remaining five counts.
Deputy District Attorney Josh Brisbane told jurors that Lopez exchanged sexually motivated text messages and pictures with the girl over the course of several months, while Lopez's defense attorney, Robert Boyce, argued his client had no intention of pursuing anything with the girl until after she turned 18.
After the girl's mother discovered the texts, she reported it to the school. Lopez was initially placed on unpaid leave, but school district officials announced in August 2022 that he was no longer working for the district.
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The victim described during a preliminary hearing how she first saw Lopez as a mentor, but their interactions progressed to flirtatious text messages and sharing pictures.
Numerous texts exchanged between the pair accounted for most of the evidence presented during the hearing. According to testimony, police discovered more than 8,000 text messages were sent between Lopez and the girl over the span of a few months.
The girl also sent photographs of herself to Lopez and provided him access to an online photo album that allegedly contained semi-nude photographs of herself, according to testimony.
Though she testified that she cared for him at the time, she said now she feels "completely the opposite."
She testified that her mother discovered what was happening and reported it to the school. Lopez was initially placed on unpaid leave, but school district officials announced in August that he was no longer working for the district.
Lopez also allegedly sent the victim pictures of himself that Deputy District Attorney Joshua Brisbane argued in court were "sexually motivated."
"Under the guise of caring for her, he manipulated (the victim)," the prosecutor said.
Lopez, who remains out of custody on $70,000 bail, faces up to four years in state prison when he is sentenced, currently scheduled for next month.
