A former drum coach and assistant band teacher at Bonita Vista High School has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student from 2016 through 2017.
Austin Aragon faced 8 counts of felony sex assault including 7 counts of oral copulation of an underaged person and one count of sexually penetration with a foreign object. Aragon, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts on November 30 and will be sentenced on January 3.
The sexual assaults took place as Aragon worked under Bonita Vista High band teacher Jason Mangan-Magabilin, who also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a band student and was sentenced in 2017 - the same time that Aragon had been having an inappropriate relationship with another student.
Details of the sexual abuse were detailed in a November 25 civil complaint filed by the victim, and obtained by NBC 7.
Aragon was hired as a drum coach and assistant to Mangan-Magabilin in September 2015. According to the complaint Aragon “began a coordinated campaign to groom” the then-15-year-old band student in April 2016. He allegedly did so through the use of Snapchat messages.
“At some point, Aragon's grooming of Plaintiff, turned inappropriate and sexual in nature wherein he would make statements to [the girl] that she was ‘the one’ and that they were
‘star-crossed lovers.’”
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The abuse occurred inside Bonita Vista High School’s band room, as well as at Aragon’s home.
And when Aragon’s boss, Mangan-Magabilin, was arrested in late 2016, Aragon urged the young girl to delete all evidence of their relationship.
“Aragon demanded that [the girl] delete her Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts, telling [her]that if they were found out, it would ruin their chances of being together in the future. Not knowing what to do and fearing Aragon, [she]complied with his requests.”
In the civil complaint, attorneys for the victim say Sweetwater Union High School District failed to conduct an investigation into possible sex abuse after band teacher Mangan-Magabilin was arrested. By failing to do so, says the lawsuit, the district put their client’s safety at risk.
Attorneys for the former student did not respond to a request for comment.
The school district also declined to comment.
