Former O.C. teacher pleads guilty to traveling to China to have sex with an underage victim

LOS ANGELES — A former teacher from Orange County who was previously convicted in state court of sexually assaulting a teenage boy pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge for traveling to China to have sex with a 16-year-old youth.

Ezequiel Christopher Barragan, previously a Spanish teacher at Dana Hills High School and a youth baseball coach, traveled in 2009 to China, where he coerced a boy to engage in sexual conduct and took sexually explicit photographs that he brought back to Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The 52-year-old former Aliso Viejo resident faces between 12 and 15 years behind bars when sentenced in downtown Los Angeles on April 12, according to his plea deal. He will also be ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release following his prison term and register as a sex offender for life, the document shows.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Damaris Diaz told the court that Barragan traveled to numerous foreign countries between 1998 and 2012 to have sex with boys. She said a restitution amount will be determined for the victim in the current case.

In September 2016, Barragan was sentenced to five years in state prison after admitting to sexually assaulting a teenage boy he met while serving as a court-appointed advocate. Such advocates are paired with children who have suffered abuse and neglect, and are meant to serve as the advocate for their interests in court.