A prominent restaurant owner admitted guilt on Thursday to a felony charge of lewd conduct involving a minor under the age of 16, as per court documents.
Jose F. Sanchez Vazquez was taken into custody at his Boise restaurant La Garnacha Que Apapacha in April, facing allegations of sexually assaulting a teenager employed there, as reported earlier by the Statesman. He had a child with the victim.
“The conduct here is extremely alarming because he used his position as an employer to take advantage of someone he admitted to doubting whether or not she was an adult,” Shawn Kelley, with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, said during a hearing in April.
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Sanchez Vazquez faces charges in Ada and Canyon counties for several counts of felony lewd conduct involving a minor under the age of 16. He admitted guilt in the Canyon County case through a plea deal; the status of the Ada County case remains uncertain.
A jury trial scheduled to start on Sept. 30 has been canceled by Judge Randall Grove. Sanchez Vazquez will face sentencing on November 26.
A food truck launched by Sanchez Vazquez and his wife has now become a restaurant, still serving at the Boise Spectrum.