A Los Angeles elementary school teacher accused of sexually abusing 20 students and one adult was arrested Wednesday, police said.

Eight counts of continual sexual abuse and seven counts of lewd acts upon a child have been filed against Robert Pimental for abuse that took place at George De La Torre Jr. Elementary in the Wilmington area, police said.
 

In addition to the 15 felonies, misdemeanor charges are expected, said Officer Christopher No.

His bail has been set at $12 million, and an arraignment date hasn‘t been set.

Pimental, 57, left his fourth-grade teaching position in March at the onset of the investigation.
 
When officials learned of the allegations earlier this year they immediately removed him from campus and parents and state credentialing authorities were informed, school district spokesman Daryl Strickland said. Parents and guardians will be told of the arrest by letter and phone, he said.

Pimental has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1974.

There has been a number of high-profile incidences of Los Angeles teachers accused of sexually abusing students. More than 225 parents and students are involved in various claims for damages against the district after Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt was arrested a year ago and pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewd conduct.

Berndt is accused of feeding his students his semen on cookies and photographing them in classroom ``tasting games.’‘

In December, a jury ordered the district to pay a boy molested by an elementary school teacher $6.9 million _ among the largest awards in the history of the school system.

The jury found the district liable for the repeated molestation of the 10-year-old student in 2008 and 2009 by teacher Forrest Stobbe at Queen Anne Elementary School in the city’s mid-Wilshire district.

<관련 한글 기사>
40년간 학생 수십명 성폭행한 “인간말종”

LA의 한 초등학교 교사가 학생 20명과 성인 1명을 성폭행한 혐의로 구속됐다.

성폭행 혐의로 구속된 피멘탈(57)은 혐의를 받은 후 조사를 받을 때 교직을 3월에 떠났다.

관계자들은 피멘탈이 혐의를 받은 직후 그를 해임했다고 학교 대변인 대릴 스트릭랜드가 밝혔다. 학부모들은 피멘탈의 구속에 대해 편지와 전화로 통보 받을 것이다.

피멘탈은 LA 학교 통합교육구에서 1974년부터 근무해왔다.

LA에서 성폭행혐의를 받은 교사들의 건수는 여러 건이었다. 미라몬트 초등학교 교사 마크 번트가 구속된 후 225명 이상의 학부모가 고소장을 제출했다. 번트는 학생들에게 정액이 묻은 쿠키를 먹이고 사진 촬영을 한 혐의를 받고 있다.

판사는 12월달 성추행을 당한 초등학생 학생에게 690만 달러를 배상하라고 했다. 이는 학교 역사상 가장 많은 배상금액이다. (코리아헤럴드)