LYNWOOD — Jonas Silverio, former principal of Firebaugh High School, who pleaded no contest last Friday to four counts of committing lewd acts on children between 14 and 15 years of age, will face five years of formal probation and one year in county jail, according to the district attorney’s office.
Silverio’s sentencing has been set for April 1.
Silverio will also have to “stay away from the victims, he cannot teach or coach, he cannot have any access to schools and he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life,” said Jane Robison, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office.
And because he’s been held on bail for nearly a year already, “the judge might credit him with time served,” Robison said. “That will be up to the judge.”
Silverio will also have to attend sex offender classes for one year.
The former Firebaugh principal, who also coached the girls volleyball team, appeared before Compton Superior Court Judge John Cheroske last Friday where he pleaded no contest to three counts of committing a lewd act on a child 14 to 15 years of age, and to one count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 years of age.
“In the eyes of the court and in the eyes of law, and in the eyes of the D.A.’s office, a no contest plea, is the same as a guilty plea,” Robison said. “No contest pleas are always treated as a conviction, whether he pleads no contest or guilty. In the eyes of the court it’s a guilty plea.”
Asked why more jail time wouldn’t be considered in the ruling, Robison said it had to do with the allegations.
The allegations, she said, did not involve actual sexual penetration.
While Silverio’s four victims testified last Oct. 20 during a preliminary hearing, there was a fifth victim, who testified that Silverio forced himself on her and touched her under her clothing inside a school classroom at a private school.
However, the statute of limitations had already passed regarding the fifth victim’s testimony, and thus the D.A. could not charge Silverio for it, nor could the judge take it under consideration for sentencing purposes, Robison said.
The judge presiding over the preliminary hearing allowed that testimony, which the prosecution said was needed to corroborate Silverio’s pattern of behavior.
According to Det. Marvin Jaramilla, of the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau, the district attorney’s office accepted the plea deal from Silverio’s attorney, Kenneth Kahn, nearly two weeks ago.
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said she is disappointed that Silverio will not go to trial and face a jury.
“I’m scared for the families of those victims,” she said. “I know for a fact that there are more victims out there who are still being controlled by Silverio, even though he’s in jail. And they will never come forward because they think he’s a god. But I truly hope that when they grow up and have children, that a sick person like Silverio doesn’t do what he did to them, to their daughters. They’ll be sorry then for staying quiet.”
The parent of several girls said that five years of probation and one year in jail, isn’t going to remedy all of the damage Silverio has done to the community.
“This is a slap on the hand, and it sets a bad example,” she said. “Touching over the clothes is a crime, period. So now other pedophiles are going to think that touching over the clothes and mind controlling and being jealous of their victims’ boyfriends is OK. … As long as there was no real penetration? Everything he did was not OK.”
The former principal also went so far as to non-re-electing teachers he didnt like, including a teacher who was allegedly seeing another teacher who happened to be a former student of Silverio’s from another school district.
“Had this gone to trial, all of this would have come out,” said the concerned parent. “Now others are going to think they can get away with touching students over their clothes and having them over to their homes for weekend pool parties.”
The fact is, the parent continued, “there was kissing, there was touching of students on their body, there was manipulation … the victims testified to that in the preliminary hearing.”
A teacher at Firebaugh said that as usual, things at the high school, “are just being brushed under the rug.”
“It’s sad that this is all Silverio is going to get,” said the teacher. “Especially in light of the news we’ve just received about the Chelsea King murder. … The guy had a record. What about Silverio’s record. He has a prior conviction for the same thing. Isn’t that being considered? It’s frustrating.”
The teacher said she knows there are others at Firebaugh — even current students — whom were involved with Silverio, but who refuse to “come out.”
“There are students who slept with Silverio, they’re just too afraid, or embarrassed to come out and say it because they have families. … At least, he will have to register as a sex offender and he’ll never again be able to teach.”
Silverio resigned from the Lynwood Unified School District one month after his arrest.
Interim Superintendent Patrick Leier, who had to clear any statements with the district’s general counsel before talking to the media, said that the district “trusts that the justice system will provide all parties with required due process,” and that “all party’s rights will be assured, and that in the end, the courts will come to a just conclusion.”
Other than that, Leier would not comment further. No school board members would comment, either.
Jaramilla said he was trying to contact the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to notify them of Silverio’s conviction.
“This is a conviction,” Jaramilla said. “So his credential, which is now just suspended, will be revoked permanently.”
Next on his list, the detective said, will be to look into how Silverio was allowed to become a credentialed teacher despite his prior 1995 conviction, in which he pleaded no contest to similar charges.
Silverio’s sentencing is scheduled for April 1 at Compton Superior Court in Dept. D at 8:30 a.m.
RSS Feeds 
You have indicated this comment should be removed.
The comment has been submitted for review. Thank you .