Casa teacher agrees to prison term for underage sex crime

<p>A Casa Grande High School teacher arrested for soliciting sex from a person he thought was a teenage girl has agreed to serve a prison term for the crime.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>This week Scott Dietlin, 34, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of arranging to meet with a minor for the purpose of engaging in a lewd act.</p><p>In exchange for the plea, San Mateo County prosecutors agreed to drop six lesser charges. Dietlin, a history and economics teacher, could serve up to two years in state prison under the terms of his plea deal.</p><p>Dietlin was arrested by Burlingame police Nov. 22 after a week-long investigation prompted by a correspondence that he had with two Burlingame teenagers on myspace.com. The teens, along with some other friends, posted a photograph and profile of a young woman as a prank. The posting implied that the profile and photo were posted by the woman, “Jackie,” and Dietlin then started engaging in e-mails with them.</p><p>After the teens began feeling that Dietlin’s e-mails were inappropriate, they contacted Burlingame police, who started investigating the situation. A Burlingame detective, posing as the teenage girl, then began communicating with Dietlin, and arranged to meet him at a particular time and place to have a possible sexual encounter.</p><p>When Dietlin arrived at the site, Burlingame police arrested Dietlin on charges of sending harmful matter electronically with the intent to seduce a minor, attempting to contact a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, arranging to meet with a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense and traveling to meet the minor.</p><p>After the incident, Burlingame police obtained a search warrant to search his vehicle and home in Petaluma, and reportedly found condoms, as well as a cell phone that police believe he used during the communications.</p><p>Dietlin was placed on administrative leave at Casa Grande High School following his arrest. Dietlin graduated from the school in 1992, and has taught there for the past nine years.</p><p>He has been in custody since his arrested and is scheduled to be sentenced June 2.</p><p>— Argus-Courier</p>