SJ teacher charged with sexual assault of student in San Diego

Harker School instructor on leave; DA says victim was from his former school

SAN JOSE >> A new teacher at The Harker School in San Jose has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a student at a school in San Diego where he used to work, authorities said.

Jonathan Sammartino, 35, was arrested Tuesday, according to a statement issued by Harker.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Sammartino has been charged with statutory rape, oral copulation of a minor and digital penetration of a minor.

If convicted of the charges, Sammartino faces a maximum sentence of four years and four months in prison.

Sammartino, who had just finished his first few weeks of teaching at Harker, is on administrative leave.

“We are concerned to hear of these charges,” the school said in the statement. “We take the safety of our students very seriously, which includes hiring qualified faculty and staff who undergo state and federal fingerprinting and extensive reference checks.

“In this case, the charges weren’t filed until last week, which was well after the school had done its extensive background checks, none of which indicated any cause for concern.”

The victim was a student at Sammartino’s “former school in San Diego,” the statement said.

Sammartino taught AP psychology and other subjects at La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego from August 2012 to July 2016, according to a LinkedIn profile. He then taught at the French American International School in San Francisco before joining Harker in August.

“We have no information that Sammartino behaved in any inappropriate manner during his brief tenure at Harker,” the statement said.

Sammartino’s arrest follows that of 39-yearold Christopher Florio, a longtime music teacher at Harker. Prosecutors say Florio solicited a 16-yearold student for sexually explicit images. He is charged with one felony count of communicating with a minor to commit a specified felony and a misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a minor.

Sammartino is out on bail and set to be arraigned in San Diego County Superior Court on Oct. 23.