Ex-Teacher Gets Jail Time For Sexually Molesting Special-Ed Students

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a former elementary school teacher was sentenced Friday to 16 years in state prison for sexually molesting special-education students.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jared Moses also ordered 45-year-old Jose Mosqueda to register as a sex offender for life.

In July, the Los Angeles man pleaded guilty back to three counts of lewd acts upon a child and one count of continuous sexual abuse.

The students were in the fourth grade at the time. The acts occurred between the years 2008 to 2011, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a written statement.

The statement said Mosqueda was arrested in Oct. 2011, after a student reported that she had been sexually assaulted.

Other students surfaced following Mosqueda's arrest, and he was rearrested and charged with additional counts, officials said.