Baseball coach charged with sexually abusing teen student, CA officials say
A baseball coach sexually abused a teenage girl while working at California high school, prosecutors say.
Now, Gabriel Vigil, 34, “has been charged with multiple sex crimes against a minor,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 29 news release.
Attorney information for Vigil was not immediately available.
Vigil pleaded not guilty at his July 28 arraignment, prosecutors said.
A Cabrillo High School staff member came to police on July 1 to say a teenage girl had been sexually assaulted “by a substitute staff member, who was also working as a sports coach,” Long Beach police said in a July 25 news release.
Detectives started an investigation and gathered evidence, which “led to Vigil’s arrest,” police said.
While Vigil was employed as a baseball coach with Cabrillo High School in Long Beach, he’s accused of committing “multiple felony sex crimes against a female student” between May 1 and July 1, prosecutors said.
The alleged sex crimes happened at different locations, including Vigil’s apartment, prosecutors said.
In an email to McClatchy News on July 30, a Long Beach Unified School District spokesperson said Vigil worked as a “walk-on baseball coach, who also served as a substitute groundskeeper.”
Vigil is no longer employed by the district, the spokesperson said.
“Any matter that raises safety concerns is investigated promptly and thoroughly, upon being reported, in accordance with District protocols,” the spokesperson said, adding that the district remains “committed to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for all students and staff.”
Vigil was charged with several felonies, including sexual penetration of a person under 18 and meeting a minor for lewd purposes, prosecutors said.
“We fully support the victim in this case as prosecutors in our Sex Crimes Division seek justice against the perpetrator,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in the release.
Vigil is being held on a $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 4, jail records show.
If convicted of all charges, “Vigil faces up to eight years in state prison” and would need to “register as a sex offender for life,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Vigil may have additional victims and asked anyone with information to contact Long Beach police at 562-570-7321.
