knbc.com
June 12, 2008 - LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles Unified School District administrator was in custody Thursday to face charges that he withheld evidence against another a colleague charged with sex-related crimes involving three girls.
Alan P. Hubbard, 49, is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on one felony count each of obstruction of justice and being an accessory after the fact, according to the district attorney's office.
Hubbard, accompanied by an attorney, surrendered to detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Juvenile Division and was in custody in lieu of $120,000 bail, according to police Capt. Fabian Lizarraga.
Prosecutors said that Hubbard knew about a romantic relationship between fellow administrator Steve Thomas Rooney and a student who Rooney met while he was working at Foshay Learning Center, but Hubbard did not report it.
Hubbard, the dean of students at Foshay at the time, also is accused of dissuading the girl from reporting the relationship to authorities, according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors said the information came to light during the investigation of the case against Rooney, who is charged with 13 felony sex-related counts involving the former Foshay student and two girls at Markham Middle School, where Rooney became an assistant principal after leaving Foshay.
The former Foshay student, who is now 18, testified last month that she began dating Rooney when she was 15 and first had sex with him in October 2005 during a relationship that lasted about 18 months.
She testified that she learned in September 2006 that she was pregnant with Rooney's baby but had a miscarriage.
The young woman -- who has since sued Rooney and the school district -- testified that she initially spoke with police in early 2007 about her relationship with Rooney, but she recanted after speaking with a dean at the school because she was still in love with Rooney.
The student testified that Rooney told her to give a scrapbook she had put together containing photos of the two of them to a friend to give to Hubbard.
"At this point, we know there was physical evidence that linked Mr. Rooney and (the girl) together," said LAPD Detective Moses Castillo, referring to the scrapbook that he said was deliberately "withheld from the authorities."
"I would say that, obviously, this is a notice for our school officials -- throughout the state for that matter or the country -- that if you are going to be withholding any information or not reporting as you are required to report any suspected child abuse, there can be some legal consequences," Castillo told reporters at a news conference outside the LAPD's headquarters.
Hubbard has been on administrative leave for about a month, according to an LAUSD spokeswoman. He is the third current or former Foshay staff member to be charged with felony crimes in recent months.
Rooney, who was charged in March, remains jailed on $1 million while awaiting trial.
Band teacher Lief Arnesen Albaugh, 27, was charged last Thursday with one felony count of possession of child pornography. He is set to be arraigned June 27.
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