A former Prairie Middle School teacher today pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting or exploiting five girls who were or had been his students.
Brian Vasquez, 35, of Aurora faced 37 counts for acts he committed over a period of five years. He pleaded guilty July 9 to three counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, pattern of abuse, a Class 3 felony; one count of sexual exploitation of a child, a Class 3 felony; one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child, a Class 4 felony; and one count of internet sexual exploitation of child, a Class 4 felony.
The counts to which Vasquez pleaded guilty include the top count against each victim. He will serve consecutive sentences on those counts. He faces an indeterminate sentence of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Sept 28.
“As a father, it is difficult to imagine any sentence long enough for what this predator did to these young girls entrusted to his care. As the district attorney, this plea allows Vasquez’s victims to try to put the horrible crimes behind them and move forward with their lives secure in the knowledge that these convictions will not be overturned on appeal,” said District Attorney George H. Brauchler. “We believe it is the longest sentence to such a plea ever in Arapahoe County, and one of the longest in Colorado.”
In August 2017, one of the victims and her parent reported Vasquez’s actions to the Aurora Police Department. The ensuing investigation led officials to discover the four additional victims.
Lesser counts were dropped as part of Vasquez’s plea agreement with prosecutors, which spared the victims having to testify and be cross-examined during trial.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Kelley Dziedzic. Prosecutor Cara Morlan, who left the district attorney’s office midway through the case, stayed on as a special prosecutor from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
