California Teacher Accused of Sexual Abuse in YouTube Video is Arrested

Woman confronts a former teacher with allegations of sexual abuse and then posts the recorded telephone conversation on YouTube.

A former California teacher and school administrator is expected to be arraigned Thursday on 16 felony charges of sexual assault after a former student confronted her over the telephone and then posted a video recording of the conversation on YouTube, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office in Riverside, Calif.

In the YouTube video, Andrea Michelle Cardosa, 40, admitted to abusing the former student, now 28 years old, starting when the victim was 12 and a student at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside, as the Lede previously reported.

Prosecutors said another former student, now 18 years old, told police after she saw the video that she was also a victim of abuse by Ms. Cardosa. The video, posted two weeks ago and viewed more than 1.2 million times, is titled, a “A Call to My Childhood Rapist Teacher.”

Ms. Cardosa, who abruptly resigned from her position as a vice principal at Alhambra High School after the video was posted, was arrested at her family’s home in Perris late Monday by members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The Riverside District Attorney’s Office said Ms. Cardosa has been charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child under the age of 14; five counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14; six counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15 years of age while the defendant is at least 10 years older than the victim.

Officials said that Riverside police detectives began their investigation into the allegations against Ms Cardosa after Jamie Carrillo, of Victorville, Calif., posted the video online. Within days, police said, another former student brought more accusations of sexual abuse by Ms. Cardosa to police.

Although the first alleged sexual assault against Ms. Carrillo took place in 1997, California does not have a statute of limitations for sexual assault on a child, unlike most other states.

Officials said the five aggravated sexual assault on a child counts carry potential life sentences should Ms. Cardosa be convicted.