'You Sicken Me': Molestation Victim Confronts Ex-Teacher in YouTube Video; Woman Gets 10 Years in Prison

*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the outcome of Monday’s court proceedings.

By By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

A former school administrator who molested two Riverside County girls -- one of whom confronted the educator years later in a recorded telephone call later circulated on YouTube -- was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison.

Andrea Michelle Cardosa, 41, of Perris pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to three counts of lewd acts on a minor as part of a plea agreement negotiated with the District Attorney’s Office.

Jamie Carrillo, the first of Cardosa’s two victims, addressed her in court as she had in the widely disseminated YouTube call.

“You brainwashed me. You got your hooks in me and wouldn’t let go,” Carrillo said. “Now I’m left with horrible memories of abuse. There is no excuse for what you did.”

Cardosa, clad in an orange jail jumpsuit, sat stoically with her attorney throughout the sentencing hearing. She did not address the court.

The defendant, who has no prior felony convictions, was arrested last February and has been held in lieu of $5 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside since that time. In exchange for her admissions, the D.A.’s office dropped 13 sex-related charges pending against Cardosa, as well as multiple sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting more than one victim in a sex crime.

Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense. In addition to the 10-year term -- of which Cardosa will have to serve at least eight years before she’s eligible for parole -- Hernandez ordered her to register as a convicted sex offender when she’s released from prison, limiting where she can be employed and live.

“As a child, I looked up to Ms. Cardosa,” Carrillo said in her statement to the court. “Now I see you preyed on my innocence and vulnerability. I was an easy target. I am now standing here for my 12-year-old self, who had no one to stand up for her.

“Because of you, I fear for the safety of my children,” she said. “I know how easy it is for someone to steal their innocence. You have sentenced me to a lifetime of pain, mistrust, nightmares and depression. You disgust me. If it was up to me, you would stay in jail for life.”

Cardosa became the focus of national attention after Carrillo, now 29, posted the videotaped phone confrontation with her, accusing her of sexual abuse 16 years earlier. Shortly afterward, a second woman, now 19, came forward, making similar accusations.

Carrillo claimed Cardosa molested her beginning when she was a 12-year- old student at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside. The second woman, identified only as Brianna, alleged Cardosa sexually abused her when she was 15 and attending Tomas Rivera Middle School in Perris.

Brianna did not address the court directly, but asked a friend to read a statement in which she expressed satisfaction that the defendant would “pay for what you did.”

“I can’t get you out of my life. You’re there forever,” she said. “There are no words to express the level of hurt and sadness I’ve had to endure because of you.”

Cardosa held teaching, coaching and administrative positions between 1997 and 2013, according to representatives from the Riverside Unified and Val Verde Unified school districts. The defendant was working as an assistant principal at Alhambra High School in Los Angeles County but resigned immediately after Carrillo’s video went viral.

Riverside police investigators said Cardosa had illicit contact with Carrillo between 1997 and 2001, including while she was in high school. The second girl was molested in 2009 and 2010. She filed lawsuits against the two school districts.

During Carrillo’s recorded conversation with Cardosa, posted on Jan. 17, 2014, the victim scolds the educator, telling her, “Do you realize that you brainwashed me and you manipulated me and that what you did was wrong?”

(Warning: Some strong language can be heard in the video)

“Yes, and I regret it,” Cardosa replies.

“You sicken me, and every day when I think about what you did, you sicken me,” Carrillo says. “You should be so ashamed and so disgusted with yourself.”

“I am, I am,” Cardosa answers.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by Riverside police Detective Roberta Hopewell, Carrillo told investigators that Cardosa, who was her basketball coach and “mentor” at Chemawa, molested her in various forms -- including oral sex -- from ages 12 to 18.

Brianna told police that Cardosa, who handled student discipline at Rivera, “took a special interest in (her) and they became very close.”

On one occasion, Cardosa drove her to Mead Valley, “began telling (her) how much she loved her,” tried to kiss her and fondled her private areas, Hopewell wrote.

According to the document, Cardosa admitted having a sexual relationship with Carrillo, but said the girl was 14, 15 or 16. She said the relationship continued after Carrillo reached adulthood and moved to the Victorville area.