CHULA VISTA, Calif. - The former Bonita Vista High School student, who had a sexual relationship with his band teacher for years, is talking about how it started, and what the teacher told him to say, in hopes of helping other students avoid the same traps if they are ever faced with a similar situation.
“I see a value in sharing this story because it serves as a cautionary tale,” the victim said.
Jason Mangan pleaded guilty to two felonies related to illegal sex with a minor.
“He knew I was infatuated with him, and he started to reciprocate those feelings and started to imply that no one else is going to understand our love and I have to keep this a secret,” the victim said.
Mangan’s victim did not want to reveal his identity.
“I thought everything of him I believe the first time I got some heavy one-on-one dose of personal attention outside school was when I showed him my report card,” the victim said.
He got straight A’s.
“So, in the Christmas break he made a deal with me he would take me out for lunch, take me to his hairstylist. Take me around Hillcrest. Take me to a movie,” the victim said.
The relationship started in 2008 when the student was 15 and tuned sexual at age 17, police said.
“There would be inappropriate texts and after a while we could stop, but then keep texting again,” the victim said.
The victim’s mother and father were concerned when they saw Mangan’s number so often on the phone records.
“We asked him are you engaging in inappropriate actions with our son? We just threw it out there and his reaction was, you know he held up his hand and said, ‘no of course not. I’m engaged. We are going to be married in a few months,’” the victim’s father said.
The father alleges they told the principal, even showed her phone records, but she did nothing.
They are suing the Sweetwater Union High School District.
“What’s so egregious about it is the school had an opportunity to stop it, it fix it, to protect this kid and help him, and they just completely ignored, really a gift-wrapped notice to them, saying you’ve got a bad teacher here and he’s molesting our son,” Dan Gilleon, the victim's attorney, said.
The victim reported Mangan to police in 2016.
“I found myself being a teaching assistant up in LA and there were gay students there and they were coming on to me. And I saw how easy it was to set boundaries,” the victim said.
Mangan faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced February 24th.
“I don’t wish this on anyone, but I wasn’t someone to know if they find themselves in a similar situation. I want them to know someone walked this path before them,” the victim said.
