Substitute Maryland Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sexual Abuse

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A substitute Montgomery County teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor and third-degree sex offense.

Fifty-year-old Jose Pineda of Gaithersburg pleaded guilty Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Prosecutors dropped four other charges of sexual abuse and sex offense.

Pineda was arrested in October after police say three 12-year-old girls reported being abused at Roberto Clemente and Ridgeview middle schools.

A spokesman for the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office says Pineda faces up to five years in prison when he's sentenced May 29.

Pineda also will face being forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and deportation back to his native Honduras.

According to reports, Pineda is a married father of three and has been in the U.S. for 25 years.