San Jose School Counselor Accused Of Selling Marijuana To Students
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – An after-school counselor at a middle school in San Jose is under arrest, after authorities said he sold marijuana to students.
Edward Diaz was in charge of tutoring and mentoring kids in a program called THINK Together at Willow Glen Middle School. The 20-year-old is accused of selling marijuana to two students on Tuesday.
"I used to think he was kind of cool. But now he made a wrong decision, so he's going to have to pay for the consequences," said Javier Jasso, an 8th grader at the school.
Javier will have to find somewhere else to study and get inspiration. Earlier on Wednesday, he turned in paperwork to join the after-school program, which has a contract with the San Jose Unified School District.
"I'm not sure now that we him in the program," Dolores Baum, Javier's aunt, told KPIX 5.
A spokesperson for the program said Diaz passed two federal background checks, before supposedly passing the marijuana to the two students. The district said after they were caught with the pot, they gave up his name and Diaz then admitted to it.
"He has no business being here, not around these young kids, are you kidding? These guys are so impressionable," Baum said.
Parent Trish De Lorenzo said, "I think it's very unsettling that parents allow their children to go to these programs after school for help and that the people we're supposed to trust provide them with drugs."
With his mom's permission, we spoke to Sam Friedman, an 8th grader. "It's definitely wrong to do this and especially to minors. I mean, it's one thing if it's to other adults but to minors, it's just like a whole other level."
San Jose Middle School Counselor Arrested On Drug Charges
Diaz is facing one count of offering and selling marijuana to a minor and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is being held on $55,000 bail.
San Jose police are investigating if this was an isolated incident of if others were involved.
