HOUSTON – A Sharpstown High School tutor charged with sexual performance of a child and possession of child pornography faced a judged Tuesday.
Aldo Leiva was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication.
In court it was revealed Leiva is still dating the teen involved in the case. She is now 19 years old.
"It's certainly unusual based on the age gap, however she's a 19-year-old now and yes, he's well into his 50s, however they do have some type of connection, and they want to have a relationship and they are obviously allowed to do so," attorney Gary Tabakman.
Leiva also has to pay a $500 fine and pay $50 to Crime Stoppers. He's required to serve 250 hours of community service.
He could have been sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Earlier story
According to court documents, Aldo Leiva, 52, is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, who was 17 at the time. Investigators were able to recover sexually explicit images and messages from Leiva's phone.
“I never thought he would do something like that. Whenever I saw him he would always say hi to me he looked like such a nice person,” said Edith Aguilar, a Sharpstown High School student.
File: Sharpstown teacher court documents
The victim's mother noticed a picture on her daughter's phone of her daughter kissing an older man and took the photo to Sharpstown High School, where staff identified the man as Leiva.
“I used to go to his class. He used to give me food and everything. He used to be really chill. I never knew he would be like that,” said Raquel Hernandez, a Sharpstown High School student.
The Houston Independent School District said in press release that "The allegations of inappropriate conduct were first reported in February. School administrators immediately notified HISD Police. Mr. Leiva resigned when he was made aware of the allegations... HISD takes situations such as this very seriously, as the safety of students is always the district’s top priority."
Aldo Leiva is the brother of Sharpstown High School's dean of students.