Ex-Riverside school administrator confronted in YouTube video pleads guilty to molestation

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- A former Riverside school administrator reached a plea deal with prosecutors Friday over charges of sexually abusing two former students.

Andrea Cardosa, 41, pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd acts on a minor, two of those with a child under the age of 14.

In exchange for her admissions, the Riverside District Attorney's Office dropped 13 other sex-related charges pending against Cardosa, as well as multiple sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting more than one victim in a sex crime.

Prosecutors said they had notified the victims of the plea deal, which came after weeks of negotiations.

Cardosa was arrested last February after a former student confronted her on the phone -- accusing her of sexual abuse 16 years earlier -- and posted their conversation on YouTube. Shortly afterward, a second woman came forward and claimed she too was victimized by Cardosa.

The first victim, Jamie Carrillo, claimed she was molested by Cardosa beginning when she was a 12-year-old student at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Carrillo told investigators that Cardosa, who was her basketball coach and "mentor" at Chemawa, molested her in various forms -- including oral sex -- from age 12 to 18.

In Carrillo's recorded conversation with Cardosa, the victim scolds the former educator, saying her life and her childhood were ruined.

"Do you realize that you brainwashed me and you manipulated me and that what you did was wrong?" Carrillo asks. "Yes, and I regret it," Cardosa replies.

Cardosa admits what she did was wrong, expresses regret, and admits she is ashamed and disgusted with herself.

"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 replies.

The second victim, identified only as Brianna, alleged Cardosa sexually abused her when she was 15 and attending Tomas Rivera Middle School in Perris.

Cardosa held teaching, coaching and administrative positions at both schools 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 and a copy was sent to Alhambra Unified School District officials.

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 allegedly molested in 2009 and 2010. She has since sued the school districts.

Cardosa could face up to 10 years, eight months in prison when she's sentenced on Feb. 9.

City News Service contributed to this report.