YouTube Sex Abuse Claims Lead to Charges Against School Principal

An educator in California was charged with 16 counts of sexual abuse on Monday, a month after a former student alleged in a YouTube video that she had abused her.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s office said in a statement that Andrea Cardosa had been charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child and 11 counts of abuse, the Associated Press reports. Cardosa had been working as an assistant principal in the Alhambra Unified School District, but resigned after school officials informed police about the case.

In the YouTube video, the now 28-year-old student claimed the abuse began when she was 12. According to the Associated Press, 15 of the counts against Cardosa are from the 28-year-old’s allegations. Days after the video was posted, it had nearly 1 million hits and a second victim came forward. One of the abuse counts was related to the second woman’s claims.

There is a $5 million warrant out for Cardosa’s arrest. Her lawyer told AP that a prosecutor had yet to advise him of the charges and declined to comment on them.

[AP]