Ex-school guard who had sex with student is sentenced to prison
Receives 3 1/2year term for contact with 15-year-old boy
The former female security guard at San Luis High School who had sexual contact with a 15-year-old male student has been sentenced to prison.
On Jan. 6, Yuma County Superior Court Judge David Haws sentenced Lizbeth Gomez Coronel to 3-1/2 years in prison for attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
She was also given given credit for two days she had already served in custody and must register as a sex offender.
Gomez-Coronel, who was represented by attorney Cynthia Brubaker of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, pleaded guilty to the offense in a plea agreement with prosecutors in September of 2020
In return for her guilty plea, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor against her were dismissed.
While defendants are typically taken into custody following change-of plea hearings, Brubaker had asked that Gomez-Coronel, who was pregnant at the time, be allowed to remain out of custody.
She also asked that sentencing, which had had initially been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2020, be postponed so her client would be able to deliver her child and have some time to recuperate afterward.
Judge Haws granted both requests.
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, 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.