(09/11/08 - Initial BBT Report)

Gerald William Lemay, 46, a substitute teacher in Butte County, California has been arrested after he allegedly solicited sex online from a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

The “girl” was in reality an undercover detective conducting an Internet sting for the Santa Cruz, California Police Department.

Allegedly Lemay was supposed to meet the “girl” in Santa Cruz for the purpose of having sex with her, but never showed up.

Lemay was arrested at his home on a warrant Wednesday afternoon, after he failed to show up in Santa Cruz.

Reportedly, Butte County school officials were notified of Lemay’s arrest on Wednesday.

Lemay is the third teacher arrested on suspicion of sex crimes against minors by Santa Cruz police in the past month. The other two teacher arrested in the same Internet sting are James Barany and Forest Miles.

References:

Another teacher suspected of pursuing underage girls online (09/11/08)

Substitute Teacher Nabbed In Online Sex Sting (09/11/08)

(09/10/08) - Initial BBT Report)

Luis Gonzalo Torner, 25, a science teacher at Cajon High School in San Bernardino, California has been arrested on suspicion of giving lewd materials to one of his former students and sexually harassing the former student after the school year ended.

Torner was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of distributing lewd materials to a minor, contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex act and annoying and molesting a minor.

Torner came to the attention of police after someone made allegations against Toner to school police.

Following his Sunday arrest, Troner was released from jail Monday morning after posting $25,000 bail.

He has reportedly be placed on paid administrative leave by the school system.

Webmaster’s note: The initial report referenced in this case indicated that the name of the accused was Luis Gonzalo Toner, we have subsequently came to conclude that the individual’s name is actually Luis Gonzalo Torner. Our apologies for the confusion.

References:

Cajon High teacher jailed following student sex allegations (09/10/08)

Cajon teacher arrested (09/09/08)

(07/15/08 - Initial BBT Report)

Craig Edward Kelso, 38, a history teacher at Granger Junior High School in National City, California has been arrested on allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old former student.

Kelso was arrested this evening after a week-long investigation into allegations against Kelso, who had been placed on administrative leave from the school.

Kelso’s whereabouts were reportedly unknown as police were on the lookout for him. At one point today, Otay Ranch High School, where Kelso’s estranged wife reportedly works was locked down when Kelso was thought to be in the vicinity of the school and had reportedly threatened his wife. Swarms of Chula Vista and National City police officers responded and circled the campus with pistols and shotguns drawn as helicopters flew overhead.

Craig Kelso is currently being held in the San Diego jail on bond totalling $900,000.

07/18/08 - Arraignment

Today the public defender assigned to the case of Craig Kelso entered not guilty pleas on 10 of unlawful sex with a minor, four counts of oral copulation, three counts of penetration with a foreign object, one count of sodomy, two counts of lewd touching of a minor and one count of trying to dissuade a witness.

Bond for Kelso remains set at $900,000 and if he makes bond he is prohibited from having any communication with the alleged victim and has been ordered him to stay at least 100 feet from her at all times.

Kelso’s next court appearance is set for September 8th and his preliminary hearing is set for September 29th.

If convicted of all charges Kelso faces up to 60 years in prison.

09/08/08 - Guilty Plea

Craig Kelso has pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor, committing a lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old and oral copulation on a person under 16.

Eighteen other charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal between prosecutors and Kelso.

Sentencing is set for October 7th and under the terms of the plea deal Kelso will be sentenced to four years and four months in state prison.

References:

Ex-teacher pleads guilty to having sex with student (09/08/08)

Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex With 15-Year-Old Student (09/08/08)

Teacher pleads not guilty molestation counts (07/18/08)

Craig Kelso Booking Record At San Diego Jail

Teacher Arrested In Alleged Sex Crime (07/15/08)

South Bay Teacher Suspected Of Sex With Student (07/15/08)

Perceived threat leads to lockdown at Otay Ranch High (07/15/08)

Southbay Teacher Wanted for Molesting a Student (07/15/08)

(09/05/08 - Initial BBT Report)

Lori June Canady, 35, a former teacher’s aide in the Jennings, Oklahoma school system has pleaded guilty to the second-degree rape of a 15-year-old male student.

Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough sentenced Canady to an 8year suspended sentence. While this gives Canady a felony conviction it does not require her to serve prison time but does require her to register as a sex offender.

Canady admitted that she picked the boy up at his home on February 18th of this year and took him to a Tulsa shopping mall before they went to the Best Western motel in Sand Springs.

Okay, let’s conduct a little poll, if anyone is interested:

If the offender was male and the victim female do you think the rapist would have received a suspended sentence?

• Yes, of course the law treats everyone the same.
• No, Lori June Canady received the 'female discount'.

View Results

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References:

Ex-teacher’s aide gets probation for rape of student (09/05/08)

Ex-teacher’s aide gets probation (09/05/08)

(08/04/07 - Initial BBT Report)

John Walter Hawthorne, 42, of Soquel, California, a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Salinas, California was to have a preliminary hearing Friday on eight felony counts of lewd acts with a child. Instead prosecutors made new allegations of child molestation and possession of child pornography against Hawthorne.

Hawthorne, free on $800,000 bond since his April arraignment, was immediately returned to jail pending a new bond hearing on the additional charges. Charges which surprised both Hawthorne and his attorney.

The original charges involved allegations that Hawthorne improperly touched five female students a total of eight times. The new allegations increase the number of alleged victims to 13 and the number of alleged child molestation offenses to 18, while adding 20 counts alleging possession of child pornography. The alleged victims are 10 - 11 years-old.

Hawthorne who has reportedly taught in the school district for 11 years now faces 15 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, three misdemeanor counts of child molestation and 20 felony counts of possessing child pornography. If convicted of all charges he faces up to life in prison.

The new allegations of child molestation and possession of child pornography are the result of further investigation since Hawthorne’s arrest in April of this year and involve both additional victims as well as additional alleged offenses against the first set of victims.

Hawthorne who will appear in court for new bail hearing on August 7th and for a preliminary hearing on August 17th has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Update 8/08/07:

Judge Lydia Villarreal increased Hawthorne’s bail Tuesday to $2 million based on a prosecution motion which claims that Hawthorne used Photoshop software to cut and paste digital photos of female students onto pornographic images he downloaded from the Internet, that some of the 13 students Hawthorne allegedly molested since 2003 were from Virginia Rocca Barton Elementary School and that investigators found thousands of pornographic images of prepubescent girls when examining Hawthorne’s computer equipment.

09/04/08 - Guilty Plea

John Hawthorne pleaded guilty today to eight counts of child molestation, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

According to TheCalifornian.com:

The District Attorney’s Office said 43-year-old John Hawthorne, from 2003 through early 2004, molested “a number of students” at two different elementary schools — Martin Luther King Jr. Academy and Virginia Rocca Barton Elementary School. At the time of his arrest last year, Hawthorne was an instructor at Martin Luther elementary school.

As part of the plea deal, Hawthorne faces a minimum prison sentence of 6 years and a maximum sentence of 16 years.

Hawthorne will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Formal sentencing for Hawthorne is set for October 24th.

References:

Former Salinas teacher pleads guilty to child molestation (09/04/08)

Prosecutor: Salinas teacher morphed porn to include students’ images (8/08/07)

New allegations return Salinas teacher to jail (8/04/07)

Teacher faces more charges (8/04/07)

Background:

Salinas Teacher Accused Of Molestation (4/19/07)

Teacher suspected of child molestation (4/20/07) (Via Google Archive)

MLK teacher enters not guilty plea (4/21/07) (Via Google Archive)