High School teacher Faces 17 Felony Counts of Child Molestation

After working for the district for about two years, Mountain View High School music teacher Abel Heriberto Acosta, 40, was charged Friday May 10, 2013 with five counts of unlawful sex with a 14 year old minor, five counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, four counts of lewd acts on a minor and three counts of oral copulation of a minor.

These charges are very serious and can result in long term imprisonment not to mention a lifetime of registering as a sex offender. Having sex with q minor alone can result in up to a year in prison and not to mention the excessive monetary fines. All these counts together can result in over 5 years in prison.

Pursuant to the complaint, the said allegations of the molestation took place between December of 2012 and April of 2013.

After investigating for a few days, law enforcement arrested Acosta on Tuesday May 7, 2013, four days after the allegations first came to light.

Acosta was being held in lieu of $1.35 million bail.

Heriberto has entered a not guilty plea and a preliminary hearing has been set for May 23, 2013 during which the victim will come forth to testify as well as any other witnesses that may come forth between now and then.