ALHAMBRA >> A special education teacher sat with good posture Wednesday as a judge said his child molestation case has dragged on long enough and should be moved toward a jury trial.
Repetto Elementary School teacher Jose Jesus Mosqueda, 44, has been charged with eight felony counts, including oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child under 10, lewd acts upon a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse and dissuading a witness by force or threat. Mosqueda pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Judge Jared Moses presided over Mosqueda’s two criminal cases. The first one was filed in October 2011, according to court records.
“This case needs to go to trial at this point,” Moses said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has consolidated Mosqueda’s initial case with another felony case. In total, the Alhambra Unified employee is accused of sexually abusing three special-education girls on separate occasions between September 2008 and October 2011.
If found guilty, Mosqueda faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison. He is being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, and bail is set at more than a million dollars.
Deputy District Attorney David Ayvazian agreed it was time for a jury trial but said he would like to set another pretrial date for 8:30 a.m. on June 10 in Alhambra Courthouse because the case is not his. Deputy District Attorney Amy Murphy was waylaid on Wednesday.
Ayvazian said setting another pretrial date might allow Mosqueda’s second felony case to catch up. The second case will have a preliminary hearing setting on May 14.
“These cases involve victims who were minors at the time — small children,” Ayvazian said. “And to have two cases. … I think that would be an undue burden to the people for someone who could get one sentence.”
Public Defender Armando Rodriguez stood next to Mosqueda, who wore a bright yellow jumpsuit and black, plastic frames.
Mosqueda previously had private counsel. Rodriguez said he is new to the case and Wednesday was the first time he appeared in court to defend Mosqueda.
After the proceedings, Rodriguez declined to comment.
The Monterey Park Police Department booked Mosqueda in October 2011. Bail was set at $275,000 when he faced two felony counts for allegedly sexually abusing one female student, according to court records.
He posted bail, but when the district attorney consolidated his felony case, the judge ordered authorities to jail Mosqueda and increased the bail amount.
Alhambra Unified School District has at least two other former employees who are facing felony sexual abuse charges.
On Monday Jeffrey Hideki Yoshitake, a Garfield Elementary School teacher, pleaded not guilty to five counts of lewd acts upon a child who was 15.
On April 18, Andrea Michelle Cardosa, Alhambra High School’s former assistant principal, pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts for allegedly sexually abusing two former female students in Riverside and Val Verde unified school districts.
Alhambra Unified has placed Mosqueda on compulsory leave, meaning the district will pay Mosqueda back pay if he is found innocent, Superintendent Laura Tellez-Gagliano has said.
