A well-known restaurateur pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony lewd conduct with a minor under 16, according to court records.
Jose F. Sanchez Vazquez, who was arrested at his Boise restaurant La Garnacha Que Apapacha in April, sexually assaulted a teenager who worked for him, according to previous Statesman reporting. He also fathered 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.
Sanchez Vazquez was charged in both Ada and Canyon counties with multiple counts of felony lewd conduct with a minor under 16. He pleaded guilty in the Canyon County case as part of a plea agreement; it’s unclear where the Ada County case stands.
Judge Randall Grove vacated a jury trial that was set to begin Sept. 30. Sanchez Vazquez is now scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26.
The restaurant was started as a food truck run by Sanchez Vazquez and his wife; it still operates at the Boise Spectrum.
