The guard was originally charged with sexual assault and endangering a teenage student
TRENTON - A former Trenton Central High School security guard, charged with sexually assaulting a teenage student, faces probation after he took a plea deal, according to prosecutors.
Ross Vega-Amador, 35, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child Monday - almost a year after he was charged with endangering and sexual assault in June, 2015, Mercer County Spokesperson Casey DeBlasio said Tuesday.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Vega-Amador will be sentenced to probation and the sexual assault charges will be dropped.
Vega-Amador, who worked as a security guard at the high school's location on Chestnut Avenue, had sexual contact with a 17-year-old student at the school on two separate occasions in the spring of 2015, police have said.
Irving Bradley Jr., who led security for Trenton Schools for U.S. Security, said at the time that the school had known about the alleged assault since May of 2015 and that Vega-Amador had been suspended for a week.
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The school found no proof of the relationship and Vega-Amador was brought back to work.
But in June of last year, the 17-year-old girl came forward to an administrator and admitted the relationship had happened, a district spokesperson has said.
The 35-year-old was arrested the same month and denied having any sexual contact with the girl. His attorney later claimed the girl was infatuated with him and had made up the sexual assault story after he'd rejected her advances.
Prosecutors dropped the sexual assault charge in exchange for Vega-Amador's agreement to plead guilty to the endangering charge.
He is expected to be sentenced to probation in June, DeBlasio said.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.