A Yolo County jury convicted a 29-year-old Sacramento man last week of luring a 12-year-old girl to have sex with him via social media.
The jury heard evidence that Taylor Lewis Gholar met the victim when she was in second grade and was employed as her after-school teacher for the next three years. After the victim completed fifth grade, they had no contact until the she was 12 years old and in seventh grade.
Witnesses testified that on Jan. 19, 2020, Gholar began communicating with the victim through Instagram direct message. The victim immediately informed Gholar that she was 12 years old. Over the course of 12 hours, Gholar asked the victim if she wanted to have sex, requested provocative photos of the victim, and sent her a pornographic photo of himself.
The victim informed her parents when Gholar became concerned that her mother was aware of the conversation. Once the victim’s parents were aware, her parents and police pretended they were the child and continued communicating through social media with Gholar.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 20, West Sacramento police officers, posing as the child, arranged to meet Gholar in West Sacramento. The purported purpose of the meeting was for Gholar to have sexual intercourse with the 12-year-old victim. Gholar arrived at the location and West Sacramento officers placed him under arrest and located condoms in his possession.
“Mr. Gholar used his position of trust as a teacher to convince a 12-year-old to have sex with him,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a news release following Thursday’s verdict. “We are pleased that with the diligent efforts of law enforcement and the jury’s decision, Mr. Gholar will never be a teacher again.”
Officials with the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office, which represented Gholar, declined to comment on the verdict Monday.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Paul Richardson presided over the eight-day trial and is scheduled to sentence Gholar on at 9 a.m. Nov. 23. Gholar faces up to four years in state prison.