Danville Man, Former School Volunteer, Charged With Child Sex Abuse

DANVILLE, CA — A Danville man and confirmed former volunteer within the San Ramon Valley Unified School District has been charged with two felony counts of child sexual assault, according to records from Alameda County Superior Court.

Angelo Zandona, 47, pleaded not guilty on April 10 to two felony counts of child sexual assault, according to records from Alameda County Superior Court. Zandona, is currently released on a $250,000 bail, according to court records from Alameda County, where the alleged incidents took place.

Zandona is charged with felony counts of sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child who is 10 years of age or younger, and oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child who is 10 years of age or younger, with the potential to cause great bodily harm to a particularly vulnerable victim. If convicted on all counts, Zandona would pose “serious danger to society” and faces a sentence of anywhere from 25 years to life in a state prison, according to the California Penal Code.

According to prosecutors, the crimes allegedly occurred on or about Dec. 30, 2016.

Zandona’s attorney did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Zandona's volunteer work gave him access to children.

A spokesperson for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District confirmed that Zandona was approved as a Level One volunteer at John Baldwin Elementary School from roughly 2016 — when the alleged assaults occurred — to 2018. A Level One volunteer is allowed to volunteer in the classroom, chaperone day field trips as a non-driver, and support campus activities. To be approved, Level One volunteers must apply online and submit to a sex offender registry search.

Patch was unable to verify Zandona's other volunteer work.

Ben Pantner, the Aquatics and Family Director of the YMCA of the East Bay in Pleasant Hill declined to confirm whether Zandona volunteered for Adventure Guides, an activities program for fathers and children ages 5-15.

When asked if Zandona had participated and what the background check requirements were, Pantner replied, “We did not perform fingerprints for this volunteer position. It was mostly parent led, but we didn’t do our usual full fingerprint background check that [we] would do for a volunteer working in our facilities. Since this program was outside of the YMCA and only involved myself to run it, we did it without background checks.”

The Mustang Soccer League did not respond to Patch's request for comment about Zandona's participation.

Zandona is due for a pre-trial hearing on May 15, according to Alameda County.