A former teacher at La Jolla Country Day High School pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of committing unlawful sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl who was once his student.
Jonathan Sammartino, 35, appeared before San Diego Superior Court Judge Maureen Hallahan. She allowed him to remain free on $31,000 bond previously posted.
A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 5.
Sammartino was working at a school in San Jose when he was arrested in September and charged with three felony charges of behavior that occurred when he was 33 years old.
The student was 17 years old in 2016 when the activity allegedly occurred in her senior year at La Jolla Country Day High School, and she is now in college. She filed a police report in the city where she is attending college on July 17.
As part of the investigation, a pre-text phone call was placed by the victim to Sammartino on August 22 and he “acknowledged their past romantic relationship, multiple sex acts they engaged in,” and knowledge she was a minor, according to an arrest warrant declaration.
The sexual activity was consensual and no force or fear was alleged in the charges. The legal issue is that she was a minor at the time.
The activity allegedly took place in the back seat of Sammartino’s car and his residence, the declaration says. She disclosed the relationship to a friend in June 2016, it says.
Sammartino has denied the charges. He lives in San Francisco.