Martinez School Construction Manager To Be Arraigned Today On 18 Child Molestation Counts

A construction manager working at an El Cerrito middle school is set to be arraigned today on 18 felony counts of child molestation, authorities said.

Jose Chapa, 69, was arrested on Dec. 9 and is being held in the Martinez Detention Facility on nearly $9 million bail, Contra Costa County sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee said.

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Chapa has been charged with 18 felony counts of sexual acts with a child for alleged crimes committed from 2006 to 2014, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman Marcus Walton said he could confirm that a man named Jose Chapa worked for the construction management company SGI, which is contracted by the district, and that man has been arrested.

“According to SGI, he was placed on leave and he won’t be returning to work in the district,” Walton said.

A representative from SGI declined to comment on the case. Walton said Chapa has worked on projects within the district since 2002 and was working at Fred T. Korematsu Middle School in El Cerrito in December before he was arrested.

Walton said all school district employees go through fingerprinting and a background check before working with children. Contractors go through the same process when they are hired, he said.

The victim or victims were not linked to any school, Lee said. Chapa is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today at the A.F. Bray Courthouse in Martinez.

--Bay City News

--Image via Shutterstock

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