On April 1, Brian Hook—the former Pioneer Valley High School teacher and coach who pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor—was sentenced in a Santa Maria courtroom to serve one year in county jail.
Hook, 54, was arrested in February 2014 on suspicion of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student at PVHS. He was subsequently charged with two counts of oral copulation of a minor, one count of unlawful intercourse with a minor, and one count of sexual penetration of a minor.
On March 24, Hook pleaded guilty to all four counts, although Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Brandon Jebens told the Sun there was no deal to plead out in order to avoid jail time.
Hook was also sentenced to five years of probation, according to court officials.
A former social sciences teacher and varsity girls basketball coach, Hook was on unpaid leave following his arrest, but not anymore.
“The certificated employee is no longer employed by the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District,” said district spokesman Kenny Klein, though he didn’t refer to Hook by name.
On the same day Hook was sentenced, a Santa Maria High School English teacher stood in a San Luis Obispo County courthouse and pleaded not guilty to charges of downloading child pornography to his computer.
Police from the SLO County Sheriff’s Office arrested Michael David Smith, 53, on Jan. 22 following a tip that child porn was being downloaded and distributed from a computer at a residence in Santa Margarita.
Detectives served a search warrant on Smith’s home, seizing computers, laptops, external hard drives, memory cards, and DVDs.
The Sheriff’s Office said detectives found multiple images of pre-pubescent children engaged in sexual acts on one of the hard drives.
The high school district was notified of Smith’s arrest on the evening of Jan. 22, and Smith was placed on leave a short time later.
Smith has taught at SMHS for more than 20 years. He’s also the assistant coach of the school’s varsity boys’ basketball team, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
School officials are aware that Smith pleaded not guilty, though Klein didn’t refer to him by name either.
“The district stays apprised on changes in status and will follow the procedures by the state,” Klein said.
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2015.