Former Castro Valley High School teacher pleads guilty to sex offense with student and avoids prison sentence through settlement

CASTRO VALLEY — A former high school teacher charged with 18 felony counts for allegedly continually sexually abusing a student may avoid prison time by taking a plea deal to a lesser offense, court records show.

Keita Hasegawa, 32, pleaded guilty on August 21 to meeting a minor for the purpose of committing a sex offense, a felony. He will be officially sentenced to one year in prison in late September, but with an important caveat: the last year Hasegawa spent on bail and wearing a GPS ankle bracelet will count toward his “prison sentence,” meaning he will not have to serve any more time, according to court records.

Hasegawa's sentencing is scheduled for September 26. According to court documents, prosecutors are expected to drop the remaining charges against him, including allegations that he sexually harassed the girl and communicated with lewd intent.

Hasegawa was charged last year and posted $600,000 bail shortly after his arrest. He has spent the last year working at a Bay Area restaurant and has complied with conditions including a restraining order against his victim, wearing an ankle monitor with a GPS receiver, staying away from unaccompanied minors and avoiding social media, court records show.

The victim is a former student who was 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged molestation, according to police. Hasegawa knew her since she was 11, when he taught at Creekside Middle School. Police say he kissed her when she was 13 and sexually assaulted her while she attended Castro Valley High School, both on and off campus.

The crimes charged occurred in 2021 and 2022, according to prosecutors. But it wasn't until March 2023 that Hasegawa came under suspicion when high school principal Chris Fortenberry told police that Hasegawa had admitted to staying at the girl's home during a mental health crisis, ostensibly to provide her with “moral support,” authorities said.

As police investigated why a music teacher had personally gone to a young girl's home, they discovered that rumors were circulating in the high school that Hasegawa was stalking the girl. Some students claimed they saw Hasegawa delete lewd text message conversations between him and the girl, which Hasegawa vehemently denied, prosecutors say.

After seizing Hasegawa's phone, police found evidence that he had asked the girl to record explicit audio recordings of herself for him, calling her “stunning” and discussing certain sexual acts with her, according to court documents.

In April 2023, several students spoke out against Hasegawa at a school board meeting, calling him immature and making the lives of the girls under his supervision “uncomfortable.” His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.