A Gilroy man pleaded guilty to child molestation and hit and run
in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence, according to the Santa
Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
A Gilroy man pleaded guilty to child molestation and hit and run in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Alejandro Cortez, 21, will be formally sentenced Feb. 5 for initiating a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old Morgan Hill female, Deputy D.A. Stuart Scott said. Cortez communicated with the victim through the social networking Web site MySpace. The victim’s parents found out about the relationship when they saw the incriminating communications.
“He was targeting underage girls,” Scott said. “He knew she was underage, and how old she was.” He did not know how the victim and Cortez first met.
Cortez was initially accused of a number of incidents of molesting the same victim, but he pleaded to the “most egregious” offense, Scott said.
The defendant also pleaded guilty to a Jan. 25 hit and run in Morgan Hill, which happened when the molestation victim’s father confronted Cortez in public, according to Scott. Cortez fled in his vehicle and hit a parked Jaguar sedan in the process, according to police.
Scott said Cortez communicated with the molestation victim from Dec. 2008 to Jan. 2009. Morgan Hill Police arrested him in Gilroy in March. Cortez was also on active probation for assault with a deadly weapon when he was arrested, police said.
Cortez’ attorney, Mike Paez, declined to comment on the case.
