A former employee at an Encinitas middle school who was arrested over the weekend, accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old, pleaded not guilty to several child sex charges on Wednesday.
Omar Hernandez Galeana, a 21-year-old who had been employed as a campus supervisor at Diegueño Middle School, was taken into custody on Sunday and booked in the Vista Detention Center after off-campus incidents on March 23 and 24 with a pair of 12-year-olds, according to law enforcement.
Galeana made his first court appearance on Wednesday and now faces additional charges, a total of 12 counts involving two minors, a boy and a girl. According to the complaint, Galeana is accused of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, forcible lewd acts upon a child, providing cannabis to a minor under 14, and contributing to the delinquency of minors by encouraging them to break curfew.
The charges stem from the alleged sexual assault of the 12-year-old girl. According to the charging document, the sexual acts only involve the female victim. The boy is 12 years old as well, an official told NBC 7 on Wednesday.
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“We have one minor who was sexually assaulted, and the other minor who was a victim in this case for the remaining charges on that complaint," Deputy District Attorney Nereida Bowman told NBC 7's Dave Summers outside the courtroom after the arraignment. "He was someone that worked at their school that they knew that they got to know pretty well."
Bowman says Galeana was communicating with several students, including the two victims, through the instant messaging app WhatsApp.
"He would tell these minors to delete those messages because there were consequences for him," Bowman said.
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Bowman says they haven’t ruled out the possibility of more victims.
Galeana, who had a bond set at $235,000 prior to Wednesday's court session, is now being held without bail due to both the seriousness of the crimes he is accused of and because of the possibility of him being around other children. If convicted, he could face a sentence of 15 years to life.
Judge Francisco Sanchez added a restraining order that should Galeana be released, he is not permitted anywhere near the alleged victims nor able to contact them.
According to investigators with SDSO's Child Abuse Unit, someone reported that Galeana met the 12-year-old outside of school hours, which prompted an immediate investigation.
Galeana worked at the middle school for three months and was fired before a message to parents was sent out Monday morning by Anne Staffieri, Superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District.
"As always, we are committed to keeping parents and families informed whenever issues arise that may affect students," Staffieri wrote. "As this matter is part of an ongoing investigation, we are extremely limited in terms of the information we can share about the former employee and the allegations. This terribly unfortunate situation should not be a discussion on social media as that will not help law enforcement with their investigation, and it serves only to compromise the privacy of those involved."
According to a recent job posting from the district, a campus supervisor is a security personnel who ensures a secure environment within the campus boundaries. The position requires a successful background check post offer, the posting says.
Galeana's arrest marks the third arrest in a week of an employee with ties to San Diego County schools.
Stacey Michelle Walker, a former Mount Carmel High School teacher, was arrested Wednesday for alleged sexual acts with a student who was 15 when the years-long relationship began, according to San Diego police. The investigation began July 31 of last year, according to San Diego police, when the victim came forward to report that they had been sexually assaulted.
The same day, a top administrator at Hoover High School was arrested this week on suspicion of possessing child pornography and distributing lewd content to a minor, San Diego police said. Charles Thomas Boyd De Freitas was an associate principal who worked for the San Diego Unified School District for about 13 years.
Staffieri said the Diegueño Middle School administrative team will be visiting with classes to reinforce student safety. SDSO also encouraged students to report anything suspicious by reaching out to school resource deputies or calling the anonymous at the Students Speaking Out Hotline at (888) 580-8477.
Anyone with information about this particular case was asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at (858) 565-5200.
NBC 7's Dave Summers contributed to this report.
