24-year old Peter Samonte, a volleyball coach at Independence High School in San Jose, California, has been arrested on allegations that he inappropriately touched 3 teenage boys between January and October of 2017. The boys were students at the high school and played on the volleyball team.
Samonte was arrested last week on 3 misdemeanor charges of each annoying or molesting a child and sexual battery. Both charges can be brought as either a misdemeanor or a felony charge, with prosecutors in this case opting for the former. The misdemeanor version carries a possible sentence of up to 1 year in county jail and a $5,000 fine for each count, unless the convicted were to have a prior misdemeanor charge, in which case the sentences may be moved instead to state prison.
Police did not elaborate on the circumstances of the alleged incidents that led to the charges.
Sexual battery in California is defined as “any person who touches an intimate part of another person while that person is unlawfully restrained by the accused or an accomplice, and if the touching is against the will of the person touched and is for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse.”
The arrests were made after Independence High School officials contacted police about the accusations.
Samonte is listed as both the JV and varsity head coach on the team’s MaxPreps page for 2019, and was last year as well. Samonte was formerly a student in the same East Side Union High District where he worked at the time of his arrest.
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