Officials with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) have announced a third arrest at Mar Vista High School, this time a tutor charged with sex crimes against a minor.
The arrest is the third sex crimes arrest in three days involving adults with ties to the Imperial Beach-area school.
Alejandro Rodriguez, 20, is charged with four felony counts of oral copulation and one count of sodomy of a person under 18 years of age. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
Officials said Rodriguez was arrested on March 9 and arraigned on March 11. School officials did not notify parents of his arrest.
Sheriff's authorities said they were not able to discuss the facts or evidence of the case as it is pending. It is unclear if the minor is a student at the school, though the victim was male.
Rodriguez posted $60,000 bail and is out of custody, officials said. He is being represented by a public defender.
Students at Mar Vista HS said they were shocked to hear about the arrest.
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"Students are kind of, they're very shocked, because they didn’t know this was going to happen, and some of them are kind of scared because they're thinking if these teachers go as far to reach out to kids for stuff like this, what if they force themselves upon other students?" student Teri Monte said.
Rodriguez's arrest marks the third case NBC 7 San Diego has learned about that is tied to Mar Vista High School in three days.
Tuesday, a walk-on assistant football coach with Mar Vista High School was arrested on suspicion of engaging in an ongoing sexual relationship with a freshman. Edward Aaron Mendoza, 27, is accused of having an "ongoing inappropriate relationship" with a 9th grade student, San Diego County Sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.
"Detectives discovered Mendoza had fostered an ongoing relationship with the victim and engaged in sexual activity with her at school over a period of about six months," the department said in a statement.
Child Abuse Detectives filed multiple counts of child molestation against Mendoza.
Monday, news broke of the arrest of a NJROTC instructor at the same school on similar allegations. Martin Albert Gallegos, 48, a Navy Junior ROTC instructor at the Imperial Beach high school, was arrested Friday. Gallegos was booked into San Diego Central Jail on five counts of sexual conduct with a minor, deputies said.
Authorities said there does not appear to be a nexus in that arrest and Tuesday's arrest.
Investigators said that relationship had allegedly been going on for months and did not include intercourse.
Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call the Sheriff's Child Abuse Unit at 858-974-2310. If you wish to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 with information. You may be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to a felony arrest.
