MESA, Ariz. — Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.
A former Valley school principal has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing students and is expected to spend the next several years in prison.
Victor Zamora, 41, was arrested in 2021 on suspicion of committing sexual misconduct with multiple juveniles. Zamora had worked as a director and teacher at Legacy Academy, a private school in the East Valley.
Last week, Zamora pleaded guilty in court to two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and three counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor.
He had originally been indicted for 29 felony offenses. The crimes involved multiple victims and took place between 2019 and 2021, records show.
Many of the sexual acts would take place in a minivan parked in a Chandler parking lot, court records show.
The terms of Zamora's plea agreement state that he shall spend at least five years in prison, register as a sex offender and be placed on lifetime probation.
Investigators have said that the students abused by Zamora looked up to him as a mentor and father figure.
"He violated the trust given to him by students and parents," investigators wrote in court filings.
Zamora's scheduled to be sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court on March 29.
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How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.