A former assistant football coach for Mar Vista High School has pleaded guilty to four sex charges involving a female 9th grade student.
Edward Aaron Mendoza, 27, faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison, said Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Matzger on Friday.
Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Garry Haehnle set sentencing for Oct. 11. Mendoza will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
Mendoza pleaded guilty to committing three lewd acts with the girl and to encouraging the victim to send him a photograph of a genital area. Sixteen other counts were dismissed after his guilty plea to four counts.
Mendoza remains in the South Bay Detention Facility without bail. He pleaded guilty without having a preliminary hearing and the victim did not have to testify.
Meanwhile, a Sept. 12 trial date has been set for Martin Gallegos, 48, a former substitute teacher and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor, who also taught at the Imperial Beach high school.
Gallegos waived having a preliminary hearing and was automatically ordered to stand trial on two charges of oral copulation and sexual penetration of the minor in the 12th grade.
Alejandro Rodriguez, 20, a tutor for another agency which provided services to the Sweetwater school district has a trial set for Aug. 15. Rodriguez is accused of molesting a teen-age boy.
Rodriguez was the first one arrested on March 9. Gallegos was arrested April 9, and both he and Rodriguez have pleaded not guilty. Mendoza was taken into custody on April 12 in Chula Vista.
Gallegos and Rodriguez are free on bond. All of the cases are separate from each other and do not involve the same victims or witnesses.
