Former Salinas High School counselor sentenced on sex abuse charges

A former counselor at Salinas High School is headed to 16 years in state prison after pleading no contest to 56 sex abuse-related charges.

Gilbert Olivares, 36, was allowing and encouraging to students to have sex in his office at the school and was secretly recording it, according to prosecutors. He also was sending sexually explicit text messages to students.

Olivares pleaded no contest in April to a laundry list of charges that included committing lewd acts against children, possessing and manufacturing child pornography and communicating with minors for lewd purposes.

The sister of a 14-year-old student discovered sexually explicit communications between Olivares and her brother on the boy’s Facebook account in March 2012 and authorities were contacted.

Detectives later turned up evidence that Olivares molested four boys. Hundreds of images and video files of child pornography were found on his computer, though investigators say none of the victims were local. They also turned up numerous sexually explicit text messages and videos of students engaging in sex in his office.

Olivares will be required to register as a sex offender for life.