LOS ANGELES - Mark Berndt, 61, a veteran elementary school teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles County was arrested yesterday at his Torrance home, the LA Times reported, on suspicion of committing horrific acts of abuse against his students, including spoon feeding his semen to them.
The arrest came after police a year-long investigation determined he committed lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2008 and 2010.
According to the news report, a CVS drugstore film processer turned over about 40 photos to police showing blindfolded children with their mouths covered with packing tape and large, Madagascar-type cockroaches on their faces. Some of the photos reportedly showed Miramonte with his arm around children or with his hand covering their mouth. Other photos showed what authorities believed to be semen being served to children in a spoon or on a cookie.
The LA Times reported that Berndt regularly told students they would be playing a "tasting game," in which he blindfolded them and sometimes, gagged them with packing tape.
In January 2011, a plastic spoon and container found discarded in Berndt's classroom tested positive for semen. Authorities are recommending the children be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
If news accounts are accurate, it is shocking how Berndt abused his authority as a teacher to take advantage of these young, innocent students. Many of the children at Miramonte Elementary School are learning to speak English, and may have been unable to communicate what occurred. Miramonte is one of the last campuses in the Los Angeles County school district to operate rear around because of overcrowding. The school has struggled academically for years.
Authorities said that additional charges against Berndt are likely, since he taught at the school since 1979. Parents, understandably, are appalled and shocked, and many are rightly questioning why this went on for so many years. United Teachers Los Angeles, the local teachers union described the charges as "so abhorrent as to be incomprehensible."
Disturbing incidents like this one at Miramonte Elementary School are tragically increasingly reported. While the investigation is ongoing, the parents of the Berndt's students would be well-advised to speak with an experienced and knowledgeable Miramonte Elementary School molestation lawyer. The attorneys at Estey Bomberger have many years of experience representing victims of horrific abuse, and may be able to help the families hold not just the perpetrator, but the school, school district, and other entities or organizations accountable, if it is determined that their negligent supervision contributed to the horrific acts Berndt is accused of.
Berndt is being held in lieu of $2.3 million bail.
Continue reading "Former Miramonte Elementary Teacher Charged With Lewd Acts Against Students" »
INYO COUNTY - A 51-year-old Bishop man was arrested last Friday, February 3rd, on suspicion of a sex crime, the Mammoth Times reported. Officers served a search warrant on Richard Ferrell Andreas, Sr., 51, of Bishop, and arrested him for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. Andres was booked and held at the Inyo County Jail on $100,000 bail. Further information about the nature of the crime was not available. Anyone with additional information on Andreas is asked to contact the Inyo Sheriff's Office at 760-878-0383.
