Santana High School Coach Accused of Sexual Relations With Student

Santee, CA — A Santana High School coach has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with a student who attends the school, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

Former Track and Field coach Keith Silvia, 49, walked into the Santee Sheriff's Station Thursday morning and turned himself in to detectives with the sheriff's child abuse unit who had been investigating the case, Lt. Dan Brislin said in a news release.

Silvia, who also works as a campus security supervisor, was subsequently booked into the San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of four misdemeanor counts of annoying/molesting a child under 18 years old and one felony count of arranging a meeting with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd acts.

The victim, whose name was protected, was described as a female 11th grader.

"Last month, the victim's parents found letters from an unknown person in their daughter's backpack," Brislin said. "Further inquiry by the parents revealed the letters were from ... Silvia. The victim's parents reported the incident to school administrators who in turn reported it to the Sheriff's Department. Detectives conducted an investigation and discovered Silvia fostered an intimate relationship with the victim and arranged more than one off campus meeting, where they engaged in inappropriate physical contact."

Silvia, who was booked into jail just before 10 a.m. Thursday, was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, records showed. His arraignment was tentatively scheduled for next Thursday, July 21.

He was placed on unpaid leave from Santana High on June 15, when administrators learned of the allegations, said Grossmont Union High School District Spokeswoman Catherine Martin. On June 23, he resigned, she said.

"As soon as we learned of the allegations involving Silvia, who also was a freshman football and track & field coach, we took immediate action and notified law enforcement, who later arrested the individual away from school," Martin said.

"The Grossmont Union High School District takes allegations of misconduct seriously and has taken appropriate steps to support and protect our students and our school community," she continued.

"As a school district, we do not condone any inappropriate behavior by adults. When concerns involving any adult on campus come before us, our normal procedure is to remove the adult from the situation and conduct a full investigation in cooperation with law enforcement. We take this particularly seriously when the actions could endanger students."

Martin noted that prior to Silvia's employment with the district, he was fingerprinted and underwent a background check through the Department of Justice and the FBI, as all prospective employees are required to do.

Silvia was a coach for the past four years at Santana, and became a permanent employee as a campus security supervisor there in October 2015, Martin said.

The Sheriff's Department also reported Thursday that a basketball coach at Vista High School in Vista was arrested this week on similar allegations.

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