Fresno band teacher sentenced for sex crimes against students. ‘He abused my son’s trust’
A former Fresno Unified music teacher was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for sexually assaulting several high school students in 2018.
John Veloz Jr., 43, was the band teacher at Fresno High when at least three victims told police he sexually assaulted them. One of the students, who was 14 at the time, said the inappropriate contact happened during school hours in the band’s office.
Veloz was originally charged with 10 counts of felony and misdemeanor sexual assault and battery. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, he agreed to plead no contest to a charge of a lewd act upon a child, age 14 or 15. He also pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation of a person under 16.
On Friday, Judge Leanne Le Mon said that given the nature of the crimes, she wasn’t going to give him probation. “You were in a position where they trusted you and you took advantage of them,” Le Mon said.
Le Mon sentenced Veloz to two years in state prison. The maximum punishment was three years and eight months, said prosecutor Nichole Galstan.
He must also register with the state as a sex offender.
Veloz’s defense attorney Mark Coleman asked the judge if his client could report to jail after the holidays. She rejected the request and ordered he be taken into custody immediately.
As a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy handcuffed Veloz, the mother of one of the teenagers assaulted, said in a hushed voice, “Glorious.”
The mother said after the hearing that she was satisfied with the two-year sentence.
“I wanted people who abuse their power to be held accountable,” she said. “He was a teacher at Fresno High School and he abused my son’s trust, over and over again. Accountability is what I wanted. ”
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
