Thursday, January 24, 2013

Our schools as a crime scene: 20 STUDENTS ABUSED AT DE LA TORRE ELEMENTARY

Former LAUSD teacher accused of molesting 20 children

Robert Pimental, who taught at George de la Torre Jr. Elementary in Wilmington, is arrested by LAPD officers. He left the district before he could be fired.

by Richard Winton, Robert J. Lopez and Howard Blume, LA Times | |  http://lat.ms/V9BNmiStudents were sexually abused at George de la Torre Elementary School in Wilmington, police say.

January 23, 2013 |  9:24 pm  || A former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of committing lewd acts and sexually abusing 20 children and an adult, law enforcement authorities said.

Robert Pimentel, 57, who taught at George de la Torre Jr. Elementary School in Wilmington, was taken into custody by Los Angeles Police Department detectives who had launched an investigation in March after several fourth-grade girls said they had been inappropriately touched, authorities said.

Prosecutors filed 15 charges against Pimentel involving a dozen of his alleged victims. The charges involve sexual abuse and lewd acts on a child and cover a period from September 2011 to March 2012, according to court records

Los Angeles police detectives suspect that Pimentel victimized another eight children and the adult, LAPD Capt. Fabian Lizarraga told The Times.

He said Pimentel is suspected of inappropriately touching the childen under and over their clothing.

The arrest comes as the nation’s second-largest school district has been rocked in recent months by allegations of sexual misconduct involving teachers and students.

In January, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood was arrested for allegedly spoon-feeding semen to students in a classroom and taking dozens of photos of students. Some of the photos show students blindfolded and being fed allegedly tainted cookies.

On Wednesday evening, L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy said both Pimentel and the school’s principal were immediately removed when the district found out about the allegations in March.

Deasy said he removed the principal because he was “dissatisfied” with how the incident was handled at the school.

District officials prepared a “notice of termination” for Pimentel and the principal that they had planned to present to the Board of Education in April, Deasy said. But the two employees retired before the board meeting.

He said Pimentel and the principal will receive their full pensions because they retired before any actions were taken.

“Can you go back and fire someone who’s already retired? No, you can’t,” Deasy said.

Detectives launched their investigation of Pimentel after some of the children told their parents they had been abused, Lizarraga said. The parents then alerted officers at the LAPD's Harbor Division.

Of the 20 children allegedly abused, 19 were students at the school, according to Lizarraga. He said detectives came across the other child as they gathered evidence.

Deasy told The Times that his recollection was that the adult was a co-worker of Pimentel.

Pimentel, who lives in Newport Beach, had been a teacher with the district since 1974, police said. He was taken into custody shortly after noon Wednesday and was being held on $12-million bail. He is expected to appear in court Thursday.

In the Miramonte Elementary case, former teacher Mark Berndt, 61, is charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct and is awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

The district is facing nearly 200 molestation and lewd conduct claims stemming from Berndt's alleged wrongdoing.

In a separate case, a jury recently awarded $6.9 million to a 14-year-old boy who was molested while he was in fifth grade at Queen Anne Place Elementary School in the Mid-Wilshire area.

The teacher in that incident pleaded no contest to two counts of a lewd act on a child and to continuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14. He is serving a 16-year prison sentence.

Photo: School police car at George de la Torre Jr. Elementary School. Credit: KTLA-TV Channel

 

United Teachers Los Angeles

UTLA statement on arrest of former teacher

Published on United Teachers Los Angeles  | http://www.utla.net/node/3960


1-23-13  ::  UTLA issued the following statement on reports of an arrest of a former De La Torre Elementary School teacher accused of sexual abuse:

UTLA is not familiar with the details of this case.  We do know the individual resigned and that he is no longer a member of UTLA.  The union will not be involved in his defense.

The allegations described are horrific.  As teachers we have a duty to uphold the trust our students and their parents place in us. 

We urge our members and the community to cooperate with ongoing law enforcement investigations in this case.

UTLA will not be doing media interviews at this time.   UTLA will release further statements as necessary.

 

additional coverage from Google News as of 8AM 24 Jan

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