PALMDALE \u2013 A 28-year-old substitute teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he sodomized a special needs Highland High School student, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Aaron Joseph Alvidrez<\/strong> of Lancaster was arraigned on three counts of sodomy of a person under 18, two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and one count each of distributing or showing pornography to a minor and meeting a minor for lewd purposes, according to deputy district attorney Seth Carmack.<\/p>\n The victim is a 17-year-old male student, who was enrolled in a special needs program at Highland High School, according to Sergeant Brian Hudson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Special Victims Bureau.<\/p>\n Alvidrez, a long-term substitute teacher at the Palmdale school, allegedly assaulted the boy in a classroom and inside his vehicle in September and October, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n Detectives began investigating Alvidrez Oct. 20, after the victim told school officials that a teacher at the school had sexually assaulted him on several occasions, Hudson said.<\/p>\n Alvidrez was arrested at his Lancaster home Oct. 21 and jailed in lieu of $325,000 bail. He posted bail three days later and has been free on bail ever since.<\/p>\n If convicted as charged, Alvidrez faces a possible maximum sentence of eight years in state prison.<\/p>\n A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2. At the conclusion of that hearing, a judge will decide if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial.<\/p>\n The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sherriff\u2019s Department, Lancaster Station.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n