Former Coach Pleads Guilty to 8 Counts
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SANTA ANA — A former Santa Ana high school basketball coach and English teacher pleaded guilty Thursday in Orange County Superior Court to having sex with a minor, embezzlement and grand theft.
Richard D. Prospero resigned last January from Valley High School in Santa Ana, at about the same time that nearly $8,000 was found to be missing from a private account used by parents and students for school sports, according to school officials.
Shortly after his resignation, a 16-year-old high school student confided to another teacher about her relationship with the 31-year-old Prospero.
Reversing a not-guilty plea he entered last September, Prospero on Thursday pleaded guilty to five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, one count of embezzlement and two counts of grand theft, a Superior Court clerk said.
Neither Prospero’s defense attorney nor the prosecutor could be reached for comment.
Prospero had been on the staff at the school for about five years.
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