A Texas teacher about to stand trial on two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 17 stunned jurors by reportedly admitting to the charges before the trial began this week. He decided to let the court decide his fate. His alleged victim, a teenage girl, testified against him.
Houston-area high school math teacher Alfredo Campos surprised the court when he pleaded guilty before state District Judge Susan Brown at the trial’s onset Tuesday. Jurors shifted gears to hear the evidence against him to determine his punishment. He could face probation or up to 20 years in prison. The Houston Chronicle speculated Campos, 31, might throw himself on the mercy of the court during the sentencing phase.
On Wednesday, the victim testified, telling jurors she was 16-years-old when Campos first kissed her in his Cypress Ridge High School classroom and convinced her into going out on a dinner date. What followed, she said, were repeated visits to a park for sexual encounters in the backseat of his car.
“I didn’t know what to do,” the emotional teenager, now 17-years-old, told a jury of eight women and four men. She said: “I’m not good at math, and I thought he’d fail me,” according to the Houston newspaper. Reportedly, she gave testimony for more than two hours and insisted she did not want a physical relationship with him, calling him “pushy” and “the worst person I’ve ever encountered.”
The teen shared personal details about their first sexual encounter in Campos’ parked car, testifying that while watching a movie, he showed her his genitals. She believed she was “in too deep” and feared getting “on his bad side.” She also noted she was “in denial” and “kind of made excuses for him.”
The 17-year-old also described Campos as the “cool” teacher known for rubbing students’ shoulders, sitting “too close” to the female students, and messaging them over social media. She said Campos told her he had marriage problems and he said he was suicidal, which she advised police previously, according to court documents.
In November, 2016, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District campus police began investigating Campos after an anonymous parent tipped them off to a teacher’s possible sexual involvement with a student. Breitbart Texas reported Harris County authorities charged Campos on the two felonies counts after he confessed to having sexual intercourse with the girl “probably twice.”
At the time, the girl told detectives she and Campos began text messaging and chatting over social media. At first, she said they only kissed and Campos touched her breasts and buttocks. Court documents revealed Campos, a married man, sent her a photo of himself wearing boxer shorts and asked if she would spend the weekend with him.
When investigators questioned Campos, he said he tutored the girl in math several times a week during the previous school year, claiming the girl confided in him because she was having trouble at home. He said he tried to give her moral support but denied any sexual activity with the teenager until officers showed him cell phone screenshots of their intimate messages the girl shared with authorities. Later, Campos told police he was in love with the 16-year-old and their sex was consensual.
Attorneys defending Campos plan to cross-examine the girl this week.
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