An assistant principal was arrested during a sweeping child predator sting in San Jose after he allegedly arranged to pay someone he believed was a 13-year-old boy for sex.
Ruben Guzman, a 31-year-old assistant principal at Sunrise Middle School, and 10 other men in the San Jose-area were arrested in an exhaustive child sex sting mere days before Super Bowl LX.
a minor for sex sjpd.org
Guzman allegedly reached out to someone he believed was a 13-year-old boy on Feb. 3 and claimed he was willing to pay the purported minor for sex, according to a press release from the San Jose Police Department.
Not long after, Guzman pulled up to an agreed upon site where he was supposed to pick up the 13-year-old — only to find a squad of plainclothes police officers waiting for him.
Guzman started working at Sunrise Middle School in 2020, but was let go in the wake of his arrest, the school’s founding director Teresa Robinson confirmed in an email to The Post.
He worked as a math teacher for 5th and 8th grade classes in tandem with his assistant principal duties for the last three years, according to Robinson.
In 2024, he was one of 10 local educators decorated with the coveted San Francisco 49ers’ “Follow Your Bliss” award.
The award, which comes with a $2,000 stipend for classroom materials, is given to “educators who lead our future generation with purpose, passion, dedication, and love despite uncertainties and any hurdles they may face,” according to its website.
Robinson said that Sunrise Middle School is offering counseling support to the community, but haven’t received any “information indicating that any Sunrise students were involved” in Guzman’s alleged activities.
“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement. While this is deeply upsetting, it does not reflect who we are as a school. Our focus remains on supporting our students and families,” Robinson wrote.
Police said that they are still looking for other possible victims who may have crossed paths with Guzman within the capacity of his “position of trust working with children.”
Guzman was booked in the Santa Clara County Main Jail on a charge of communicating with a minor for sex, which could land him behind bars for up to five years.
The other 10 suspects arrested in the covert operation were booked on a wide range of charges, including attempted lewd acts with a minor and arranging meetings for sexual purposes, according to a separate release.
The youngest alleged predator in the lineup was just 24 years old. The oldest was 72.
Five of the suspects are San Jose residents, two are from Santa Clara, and the others hail from Hayward, Milpitas and San Bruno, police said.