Former La Jolla Teacher Pleads Not Guilty to Rape, Sexual Misconduct With Student

A former La Jolla high school teacher pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual misconduct with a student Tuesday.

Jonathan Sammartino, 35, faces charges of statutory rape and sex acts with a minor.

Sammartino was a teacher at La Jolla Country Day School when he reportedly began a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student, according to the San Diego Police Department’s arrest warrant affidavit.

The relationship, also described as romantic in nature, lasted from April 2016 until September 2016, according to the affidavit.

“The complaint came from a person who has alleged that there was inappropriate contact at some point after she attended class or just before graduation or sometime after she graduated from school,” Sammartino’s lawyer, Gene Iredale, said.

If convicted, Sammartino would face up to four years and four months in prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.

A little more than a year after the alleged relationship ended, Sammartino left La Jolla and began teaching at The Harker School in San Jose.

The student, now attending University of California, Berkeley, filed a criminal report against Sammartino with campus police on August 22, 2018.

Shortly after, Sammartino was arrested in San Jose.

He was put on administrative leave with pay, pending the resolution of the case, according to his lawyer.

Sammartino taught psychology and the trivium, a class about rhetoric, grammar, and logic.

Both The Harker School and La Jolla Country Day School notified students and families of Sammartino's arrest.

He is the son of U.S. Southern District of California Judge Janis L. Sammartino.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 5.