A former baseball coach at Long Beach’s Cabrillo High School remained jailed Tuesday on seven felony sex-related counts involving a teenage student.
Gabriel Vigil, 34, pleaded not guilty Monday in a Long Beach courtroom to one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger, sexual penetration by a foreign object, oral copulation with a person under 18, contact with a minor for a sexual offense and distributing or showing pornography to a minor with the intent to seduce, along with two counts of meeting a minor for lewd purposes.
He was ordered to be held in lieu of $250,000 bail while awaiting his next court appearance Aug. 4, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Vigil allegedly committed multiple felony sex crimes against a female student while he was working as a baseball coach at the high school, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The alleged crimes occurred at multiple locations, including Vigil’s apartment, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
An investigation began July 1 into Vigil after a staffer at the high school reported suspicion that a teenager had been sexually assaulted off campus by a substitute staffer who also worked as a coach, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
Vigil was arrested Thursday morning at his home in the area of Pacific Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, police said.
The Long Beach Post reported that Vigil was a substitute groundskeeper and walk-on coach at the high school, but was no longer employed by the Long Beach Unified School District.
If convicted as charged, Vigil faces up to eight years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“Sex predators who exploit their position of trust in a school setting and target minors should know that my office will work with law enforcement to find you, arrest you and hold you fully accountable,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement about the case. “We fully support the victim in this case as prosecutors in our Sex Crimes Division seek justice against the perpetrator. We encourage any additional victims to contact our office or the Long Beach Police Department as the investigation is ongoing.”
The Long Beach Police Department’s Sex Crimes Division can be reached at 562-570-7321. Anonymous tips can be submitted through LA Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).