Substitute custodian pled guilty to a pair of felonies Wednesday

EL CAJON (KUSI) – A 21-year-old substitute custodian who pressured a 14-year-old girl to meet him for sex pled guilty to a pair of felony charges Wednesday.

Elias Morales II took a plea bargain and will be sentenced on Aug. 4 to probation and possible jail time. He will also have to register as a sex offender, said Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Renner.

Morales pled guilty to contact with a minor with the intent to commit a sex crime and attempting to possess child pornography.

Morales sent inappropriate text messages to a student at the El Capitan High School and encouraged her to ditch class and meet him off campus, according to San Diego County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Duckworth.

School officials alerted the sheriff’s department of the allegations against Morales after learning of them.

Detectives posed as the student and text Morales, agreeing to meet him at a 7-Eleven store on Maine Avenue for a sexual liaison, Duckworth said. Morales was arrested at the store on Feb. 19.

The school district scanned his fingerprints and ran him through U.S. Department of Justice and FBI background checks before they hired him late last year.

He was fired after his arrest.