Teen Strikes Plea Deal In Fontana Hazing Case
FONTANA (CBS) — The Fontana high school teen who was charged with hazing fellow students in June struck a plea deal in court and was released from jail on Monday.
Fernando Salgado, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sexual penetration and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. He agreed to testify against his teacher, Emmanuel De La Rosa, who is also facing similar charges.
Salgado and De La Rosa, a Career Technical Education teacher at A.B. Miller High School, were taken into custody last month amid allegations of sexual assault during a summer school class taught by De La Rosa.
Legal analyst Steve Meister said the plea deal may actually backfire on prosecutors because De La Rosa's defense may claim the teen will say anything on the stand to get out of the sex charge.
"He knows what his target is, he knows he wants to get rid of this sex case," said Meister. "He knows he doesn't want to register."
If Salgado testifies truthfully, the sex charge would be dropped. He would be placed on three years felony probation and do 180 days in county jail on weekends.
