Amanda Quinonez broke down sobbing as her victim’s mother confronted her in court Monday.
The former Riverside teacher, 34, wept at Riverside Superior Court while the boy’s mother recounted how the abuse had shattered her 14-year-old son’s life. Quinonez had pleaded guilty in March to two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, one count of providing sexually explicit material to a minor, and one count of lewd acts on a child.
The mother described the moment she arrived at the baseball field searching for her son. The first coach stayed silent when she asked where he was. A second coach directed her back to the first, who finally revealed the teenager was in the administration building. She found him sitting silently beside a Sheriff’s Deputy.
Quinonez, who had worked as a water polo and swim coach at Eleanor Roosevelt High School before her April 2022 arrest, had groomed and sexually abused the student. The boy later admitted the relationship and disclosed that Quinonez had told him he needed to protect her.
The fallout devastated the family. The victim and his older brother quit the baseball team and transferred to a different school after other students learned of the abuse and ridiculed them. The boy’s father told the court that other baseball players still talk about his son’s past high school relationship.
Fighting back tears and gasping for air, the mother delivered her statement alongside her husband. She detailed the ongoing torment her son endures from peers who know what happened.
Quinonez addressed the parents through tears during the hearing. She apologized and admitted she had failed as a teacher. She also spoke about her own daughter, saying she hoped the girl would not judge her by the woman she is today, but by the woman she will become.
The former teacher had been free on $50,000 bond but is set to be taken into custody Tuesday. She will be sent to state prison for mental evaluation before returning to court November 10 for formal sentencing.
The case exposed how Quinonez exploited her position as both classroom teacher and athletics coach to access and manipulate the student. Her arrest in April 2022 ended months of hidden abuse that only came to light when the boy’s mother began searching for him at school and uncovered the disturbing truth.
The family’s ordeal extended far beyond the criminal acts themselves. The brothers’ forced withdrawal from baseball and their transfer to escape harassment illustrate how abuse by educators ripples outward to punish entire families. The father’s testimony about ongoing chatter among other players confirms the stigma continues years later.
Quinonez’s plea deal avoided a trial but brought her face-to-face with the damage she caused. Her courtroom tears and her hope for redemption through future self-improvement stood in stark contrast to the raw grief of the family she destroyed.