Former Castro Valley High School teacher pleads guilty to sex crime involving student, avoids prison time in plea deal

CASTRO VALLEY — A former high school teacher who had been charged with 18 felonies for allegedly continuously sexually abusing a student will avoid jail or prison through a plea deal for a lesser offense, court records show.

On Aug. 21, Keita Hasegawa, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of meeting with a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense, a felony. In late September, he will be formally sentenced to a year in prison with one important caveat: The past year Hasegawa spent out on bail, wearing a GPS monitor on his ankle, will count toward his “prison” sentence, so he has no time left to serve, according to court records.

Hasegawa’s sentencing has been set for Sept. 26. Prosecutors are expected to dismiss his other charges, which included allegations of molesting the girl and communicating with lewd intent, court records show. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life as part of the deal.

Hasegawa was charged last year and posted $600,000 bail shortly after his arrest. He has spent the past year working at a Bay Area restaurant and abiding by conditions including a victim restraining order, GPS ankle monitoring, staying away from unaccompanied minors and not using social media, court records show.

The victim is a former student who was 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged abuse, according to police. Hasegawa had known her since she was 11, when he taught at Creekside Middle School. Police say he kissed her when she was 13 and sexually abused her when she attended Castro Valley High School, both on and off campus.

The alleged crimes occurred in 2021 and 2022, according to prosecutors. But Hasegawa did not come under suspicion until March 2023, when high school principal Chris Fortenberry reported to police that Hasegawa admitted to being at the girl’s home while she was going through a mental health crisis, ostensibly to provide “moral support,” according to authorities.

As police investigated why a music teacher would personally go to a teenage girl’s home, they discovered rumors circulating at the high school about Hasegawa stalking the girl. Some students claimed to have seen Hasegawa deleting lewd text message conversations between him and the girl, something Hasegawa strongly denied, according to prosecutors.