A San Jose assistant principal — a 2024 finalist for California Teacher of the Year — has been arrested after allegedly attempting to pay an undercover officer, whom he thought was a 13-year-old boy, for sex.
Ruben Guzman, 31, a math teacher and assistant principal at the Sunrise Middle School for the past six years, was arrested as part of a large-scale, online chat operation by the San Jose police during Super Bowl week.
Ironically, Guzman not only was a finalist for teacher of the year, but he was also recognized by the San Francisco 49ers football team for his work in education, the Daily Mail reported.
Details of the February 3 arrest were released this week by authorities, who said it was San Jose Police Department’s (SJPD) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit and the FBI that identified Guzman as a “potential suspect.”
According to a statement by the SJPD:
On the evening of February 3, 2026, Suspect Guzman started to communicate with who he believed was a 13-year-old juvenile male. The suspect acknowledged the child was underage and told the minor that he wanted to engage in sexual acts, further enticing the minor by offering money in exchange. Suspect Guzman arranged to pick up the child in the city of San José but when he arrived, he was apprehended by Officers with the SJPD Covert Response Unit who immediately took him into custody.
A search of his person and vehicle revealed items consistent with the planned encounter. During the subsequent investigation, Investigators learned that the suspect was actively employed as an Assistant Principal at Sunrise Middle School located in the city of San José. The school administration was notified and is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Staff at the school were in shock over the arrest.
“While this is deeply upsetting, it does not reflect who we are as a school,” Sunrise Principal Teresa Robinson told ABC7. “He was a highly regarded teacher and administrator. Again, there was nothing in his work record or his prior work record, said other schools to indicate anything had any problems with his work.”
The undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old falls within the same age range as Guzman’s students. Middle school pupils are typically between the ages of 11 and 14.
The principal said it does not appear “to the best of our knowledge” that any child was seduced at the school.
However, the SJPD stated, “Because the suspect was employed in a position of trust working with children at the time of arrest, (Internet Crimes Against Children) Detectives believe there may be additional victims.”
The department urged anyone so affected or having knowledge of such to contact detectives.
Guzman was booked at the Santa Clara County Main Jail and charged with communicating with a minor for sex, but may have since been released from custody, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Between February 3-6, ten other men were arrested in the online sting operation, Daily Mail reported, with suspects ranging in age from 24 to 72.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets, which documents one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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