ENCINITAS, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A former campus supervisor at a middle school in Encinitas was sentenced to 28 years in prison Wednesday after he molested a 12-year-old female student.
Prosecutors said Omar Hernandez Galeana, 22, was employed at Diegueño Middle School when he communicated with the young girl and other students then asked them to delete their text message conversations with him.
A statement read in court on behalf of the girl’s parents said, in part, “Under the guise of campus supervisor, the defendant targeted and groomed our 12-year-old daughter at a place she should have been safe, her middle school.”
Galeana was arrested by San Diego County Sheriff’s Child Abuse Unit deputies last March. The sheriff’s office said it opened an investigation after hearing a report that Galeana “met with a 12-year-old victim outside of school hours” at an undisclosed off-campus location and was suspected of sexually assaulting them. He was also suspected of impairing her with marijuana before the sexual abuse occurred.
In a letter to Diegueño Middle School families sent after the incident, San Dieguito Union High School District Superintendent Anne Staffieri said Galeana had only been employed at the school for three months and was fired after his arrest.
The young girl’s family filed a lawsuit against Galeana and the San Dieguito Union High School District in July of last year, saying district officials failed to prevent the sex crimes from happening.
Along with serving prison time, Galeana was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
