CA: Accused of sexual abuse, but back in the classroom

L.A. Unified has failed to follow up on complaints once police or prosecutors dropped criminal actions, leaving students vulnerable to molesters.

An LA Times Investigation: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teachers10-2009may10,0,1000273.story

A jury late last year ordered the Los Angeles Unified School District to pay nearly $1.6 million to the families of three girls molested by Ricardo Guevara, who is now serving 15 years in prison for lewd acts with a child.

But there was something the jury -- and the public -- was never told: This was the third set of accusations that Guevara had molested students. Twice before, when law enforcement officials had decided they lacked the evidence to win a criminal conviction, L.A. Unified officials had quietly put him back in the classroom.

But there was something the jury -- and the public -- was never told: This was the third set of accusations that Guevara had molested students. Twice before, when law enforcement officials had decided they lacked the evidence to win a criminal conviction, L.A. Unified officials had quietly put him back in the classroom.

Guevara's case fits a pattern, a Times investigation shows: Repeatedly, the district failed to follow up on sexual misconduct complaints against employees once police or prosecutors dropped criminal actions. Some ended up at new schools. In at least one instance -- involving Guevara -- the new principal had no idea of his history.

In three other cases documented by The Times, the employee went on to be charged with or convicted of molesting another student:

* An elementary school teacher was investigated for allegedly molesting a fourth-grader in 2001. After prosecutors declined to pursue the case, he was transferred to other schools and eventually molested a student in 2004. Convicted of a lewd act, he was sentenced to six years in prison.

* Another elementary school teacher was accused in 2002 of repeatedly forcing a female student to sit on his lap and pose for a camera. Police recommended that the district pursue the issue "administratively." School leaders handled the matter by telling him to stop. The teacher later pleaded no contest to sexual abuse of a child and received 16 years in prison.

* Steve Thomas Rooney, an assistant principal at Markham Middle School in Watts, was arrested last year on suspicion of sexually assaulting a student, sparking public outrage and calls for reform. In 2007, prosecutors had declined to prosecute Rooney for allegedly waving a gun at the stepfather of a student with whom he was suspected of having had a sexual relationship.

The first complaint against Guevara came in 1995, when the teacher's aide was working part time at the 37th Street Early Education Center in the Exposition Park area. A 9-year-old student reported that he had taken her into a closet and asked her to lower her pants, according to a sheriff's report contained in court records.

The principal reported the incident to both L.A. Unified and the Los Angeles Police Department, according to police documents. But the records say the girl gave inconsistent accounts. Guevara, who denied the allegation, was never charged with a crime.

He was cleared to return to work at the same school, according to court documents.

Several years later, he was hired full time at the Miramonte Early Education Center near Huntington Park. District administrators knew of the 1995 accusation, but no one informed school leaders, according to an associate principal's 2008 deposition.

In 2002, a 6-year-old accused "Mr. Ricardo" of repeatedly touching her groin during class one day. Guevara was removed from the school and assigned to a district office where he had no access to children, while sheriff's deputies investigated, according to the deposition of Elizabeth Blackwell, the associate principal.

After initially denying that he had touched the student, Guevara admitted he may have accidentally touched her crotch when several male students jumped on his back, according to the sheriff's report. Detectives forwarded the case to the district attorney's office. But with no witnesses besides the child, who over time mixed up details of what had occurred, prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

Guevara returned to Miramonte to work with children.

His career as a teacher's aide ended only on Nov. 6, 2003, when a Miramonte parent reported that she had seen Guevara reach into the back of a girl's pants on the playground. The report prompted the two other girls to come forward with similar allegations.

In 2005, a jury convicted Guevara of multiple counts of lewd acts with a child.