A state appellate court panel has reversed the sexual misconduct conviction of Gerald Lopez, a former English teacher and sports coach at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, ruling that evidence was insufficient for one charge and that the trial court made a prejudicial error on another.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal issued its opinion Friday, vacating Lopez's child sexual abuse material possession conviction and a child molestation charge. Lopez was arrested in 2022 after an El Cajon police investigation into text messages between the then-54-year-old teacher and a then-17-year-old student. Prosecutors introduced more than 8,000 texts and 930 photos exchanged between the two.

The three-justice panel ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the child pornography conviction, finding that the photograph in question did not legally meet the definition of child sexual abuse material under applicable statutes. The panel also found that jurors heard "several days of irrelevant and prejudicial testimony" from the victim about how Lopez's words made her feel, while the defense was denied the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence.

While both convictions were vacated, the appellate court ruled there was sufficient evidence to retry Lopez on the misdemeanor child molestation count, and the case could proceed to a new trial on that charge. Lopez was originally convicted by an El Cajon jury in 2024 and sentenced to six months of suspended county jail time and probation. The same jury acquitted him on more than a dozen other charges.

The ruling does not mean Lopez was innocent — prosecutors can choose to retry the molestation charge. East County families with students at Granite Hills should contact the Grossmont Union High School District for information about any ongoing notifications. Source: NBC 7 San Diego.