Guilty plea
Ex-YC teacher pleads guilty in plea agreement
BY JAMES GILBERT SUN STAFF WRITER
The former teacher and coach at Yuma Catholic High School who used social media to send messages to a female student in an attempt to have sex with her pleaded guilty to two felony charges as part of a plea agreement Tuesday in Yuma County Superior Court.
When asked how he pleaded to the charges, which were aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation and luring a minor for sexual exploitation, Craig Gillespie, 59, replied “guilty” to both.
In explaining the terms of the plea agreement to Gillespie, Superior Court Judge Brandon Kinsey explained that the aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation charge carried a prison sentence ranging from three years to 121/2 years, with the presumptive sentence being five years.
The attempted luring of a minor for sexual exploitation charges, Kinsey continued, carried a prison sentence ranging from one year to three years and nine months, with the presumptive sentence being two and a half years.
Probation was also available for both sentences.
The plea agreement, however, contained a stipulation that Gillespie be sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison on the attempted luring charge and seven years of probation for the aggravated luring charge, which will begin after he gets out of prison.
After taking Gillespie through the plea agreement, explaining his rights and making sure he understood what was happening, Kinsey added that the plea was not binding on the court and if the court did not accept it, he would be able to withdraw from it or present it to another judge.
He then set Gillespie’s sentencing for 3 p.m. on July 14. Attorney Richard Parks of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, who represents Gillespie, asked if he could waive his client’s appearance for sentencing, due to the coronavirus.
Kinsey denied the request, saying that Gillespie would need to be fingerprinted for the sentencing documents and if he was not showing any symptoms of the illness, there was no reason for him not to be present.
In March, the administration at Yuma Catholic High School became aware of a teacher having inappropriate communications with a female student and immediately reported the matter to the Yuma Police Department.
Detectives from YPD’s Child, Family, and Sex Crimes Unit then investigated the allegations and confirmed that Gillespie had allegedly solicited a female student to engage in sex.
Gillespie, who was immediately terminated, taught English and was in his first season as the coach of the girls soccer team. He had been a teacher at the school for the past three years.