Teacher Admits to Having Sex With Student

A Temecula middle school teacher today admitted to carrying on a yearlong sexual relationship with a teenage girl and was immediately sentenced to a two-year prison term.

James Seishin Pinckard, 56, pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawful intercourse with a minor, oral copulation with a minor and meeting with a minor at an arranged time or place for the purpose of engaging in lewd or lascivious behavior.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Rushton dismissed a dozen other felony charges as a result of the plea deal. Pinckard, a married math instructor at, after the charges were filed.

According to Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez, patrol officers were sent to 41771 Corporate Center Court on the night of Nov. 9 to check out a burglar alarm at a business. Officers spotted a van parked at the location and questioned the driver, Pinckard, discovering a 17-year-old girl "hiding in the rear of the van,'' Gomez said. "Investigation revealed Pinckard and the juvenile ... (had) been involved in an ongoing sexual relationship for over one year,'' the sergeant said.

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The judge issued a criminal protective order earlier this month prohibiting any contact between the defendant and the girl, who had attended his class.