Ex-Costa Mesa High football coach pleads guilty to sending messages to a detective he thought was a teen girl
A former Costa Mesa High School football coach pleaded guilty this month to sending messages in an effort to seduce a teenage girl who was actually an undercover detective.
Jeremy Daniel Osso, 40, was charged in June with communicating with a minor for sex, sending harmful matter to seduce a minor, attempted solicitation of child pornography and burglary, all felonies. He had pleaded not guilty during a hearing in June.
San Diego prosecutors this month dropped all but one felony charge. Osso pleaded guilty Aug. 15 to sending harmful matter to seduce a minor, according to San Diego County court records.
Osso, a Costa Mesa resident, is being held without bail in Vista. He is expected to be sentenced Sept. 13.
Osso was arrested after he allegedly corresponded in May and June with an undercover Carlsbad police detective posing as a 13-year-old, eighth-grade girl, according to the arrest warrant. Some of the correspondence allegedly took place in an online chat room.
The detective works with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which involves thousands of agencies working on child abuse and online exploitation cases.
Osso allegedly identified himself as a 38-year-old man from Orange County, asked for nude photos and exchanged sexually explicit language with the undercover detective, whom he believed was a 13-year-old girl, according to the warrant.
He also sent the undercover detective a photo of his genitalia and a video of him masturbating, according to the court records.
Deputy Public Defender Elysia Wilschke, who represents Osso, declined to comment on the case.
Osso, an Estancia High School alumnus, was head football coach for Costa Mesa High School from 2006 until he was fired in 2011. He was an assistant coach from 2001 to 2003.
Most recently, Osso was a defensive coordinator for the varsity football team at University High School in Irvine and an instructional assistant at Irvine High School, according to the Irvine Unified School District.
District officials placed Osso on unpaid administrative leave in June after learning of the investigation.The district has said there is no indication that any students from Irvine Unified schools were involved in the case.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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