Former Denver church and school worker agrees to plea deal following rape accusations
Diego Marroquin, 38, a former music teacher at St. John's school and church in southeast Denver, agreed Friday to a plea bargain that will likely keep him out of jail.
In 2022, Marroquin was charged with sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. He allegedly raped a 13-year-old female student from the school in a balcony overlooking the church.
The girl told Denver police, "My mind went black. I couldn't believe this was happening to me."
Marroquin, who is originally from Guatemala, previously declined to discuss the case but said he hoped "the truth comes out."
On Friday, prosecutors said in court they were dropping the sex assault charge and Marroquin would plead guilty to a felony of contributing to the delinquency of a minor with a sexual basis. If he completes four years of probation and sex offender treatment, the charge will be dismissed in a deferred judgement. He also will plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of third degree assault, but prosecutors have agreed not to seek jail time for the former music teacher and he will receive four years probation for the assault conviction.
CBS News Colorado is not identifying the teenage girl, but her mother, Jessica Vandam, said after the hearing: "It's a guilty plea and we're happy with that. We know what he did."
The girl's parents said they agreed to the plea deal as going to trial would have been risky and would have been further trauma for their daughter.
"We've had to look at really what's best for our daughter," said the teen's father Aaron Vandam.
"How do we move forward, how do we help her and that's how we got here today," said Vandam.
The parents say after the alleged incident, "We were treated as guilty." Aaron Vandam said, "We were completely ostracized. We were treated as if we were the bad people."
The parents are considering a civil lawsuit against St. John's.
"This will be a lifelong harm," said Aaron Vandam.
St. John's said following the incident, they installed additional cameras and took other steps to educate staff and students about potential criminal behavior.
The Vandams said the last two-and-a-half years have been "horrendous" for their daughter and their family, as they had to move out of Colorado and their daughter has suffered deep mental and physical repercussions.
"As hard as this is," said Aaron Vandam, "we feel lucky today."
He went on to note that most sexual assault cases do not end with guilty pleas.
"She's that one that's being heard," said the father.
Diego Marroquin, who has no previous criminal history, left court quickly and declined to comment after the Friday hearing. His attorney, Marshall Breit, also declined comment on the plea deal.
Marroquin will return to court for a formal sentencing hearing on April 11.
The alleged victim's family is related to a former CBS News Colorado employee.
