A state appellate court panel has vacated a former Granite Hills High School teacher's child sexual abuse material and child molestation convictions related to sexual misconduct involving an underage former female student.
Gerald Lopez, who taught English and coached sports at the East County school, was arrested in 2022 by El Cajon police after the then-17-year-old victim's mother discovered a series of text messages between her daughter and Lopez.
Lopez was convicted by an El Cajon jury in 2024 of a felony count of possessing child sexual abuse material and a misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child, then sentenced to a suspended term of six months in county jail, plus probation.
The same jury acquitted Lopez of more than a dozen other charges and hung on five counts of sending harmful material to a minor, which were later dismissed.
An opinion issued Friday from a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal said there was insufficient evidence to support the child sexual abuse material conviction, which concerned a photograph the victim sent to Lopez.
The appellate panel ruled that the picture did not show the girl engaging in "sexual conduct," and thus the conviction could not stand.
(Photo: Reporting partner ABC 10)