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Bonita High School music teacher pleads not guilty to sex charges

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CHULA VISTA, Calif. - A Bonita Vista High School music teacher who allegedly engaged in sexual activity with one of his students at the South Bay campus, beginning when the boy was 15 years old, pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple sex-related charges.

Jason Mangan-Magabilin, 38, surrendered to Chula Vista police last week and is free on $325,000 bail.

He faces 11 years in state prison if convicted of four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object on a minor and nine counts of oral copulation of a person under 18, according to Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Matzger.

The prosecutor said the alleged crimes took place between August 2010 and August 2011.

Chula Vista police Capt. Lon Turner said authorities became aware of the alleged crimes only recently, when the now-22-year-old alleged victim came forward with the accusations.

He alleged that he had been molested at the Otay Lakes Road campus on various occasions when he was 15 and again when he was 17, Turner said. The alleged victim was a student in one of Mangan-Magabilin's classes, according to the prosecutor.

Judge Patricia Garcia ordered Mangan-Magabilin to return to court Oct. 13 for a readiness conference and Oct. 26 for a preliminary hearing.