Ex-school guard’s hearing rescheduled
Former SLHS employee accused of sexual contact with a 15-year-old male student is pregnant
A change-of-plea hearing Wednesday in Yuma County Superior Court for the former female security guard at San Luis High School accused of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old male student was rescheduled due to her pregnancy.
In asking for a continuance, Lizbeth Gomez-Coronel’s attorney, Cynthia Brubaker of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, explained to the court that a plea offer has been reached but has not been entered into yet.
Brubaker explained that her client, whose presence was waived at a previously held settlement conference, is close to delivering and has some medical issues.
She added that she hopes to get her client into court to accept the plea offer before she delivers, but doesn’t know if it will happen.
If it does, the prosecution has also agreed to postpone sentencing for a more suitable time afterward.
Gomez-Coronel has been charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
After hearing from both counsel, Superior Court Judge David Haws granted Brubaker’s request and scheduled Gomez-Coronel’s next appearance for 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 9 for a continued change-ofplea or trial setting hearing.
According to San Luis police, Gomez-Coronel was arrested at her residence in August 2019.
While police did not go into specific details due to the investigation, they said the alleged sexual conduct was reported on the same day to the school, which then contacted San Luis police.
In an official statement released at the time to its Facebook page, the Yuma Union High School District posted that pursuant to Arizona law, and in consultation with legal counsel, the district had taken immediate action to terminate employment for Gomez-Coronel.
The Yuma Union High School District confirmed that Gomez-Coronel had worked at the school for two years.