- During Slavery and Segregation this was an everyday occurance
- Berndt Should be Executed for his Crimes against Nature
- Mark Berndt, 61, accused of blindfolding students and feeding them his own semen
- New workforce will take over from 88 teachers and 40 support staff at Miramonte Elementary School
- Social worker in every classroom to help pupils cope with issues
- Martin Springer, 49, arrested for allegedly fondling two girls
- Three victims pointed out possible third teacher involved in scandal
- Teacher's aide accused of sending love letters to a male pupil
Sheriff's Lieutenant Carlos Marquez said on Wednesday the photos were found late last week at the same pharmacy where a photo lab technician had noticed the odd pictures.
The recent discovery places the total number of photos to roughly 600.
Mark Berndt, 61, has been charged with lewd acts on children, ages six to ten, between 2005 and 2010. Some of the photos show children blindfolded, their mouths taped and being fed a milky, white liquid authorities believe was his own semen as part of a 'game'.
Accused: Mark Berndt, 61, (left) was charged with carrying out lewd acts on 23 children who were aged six to ten. His colleague Martin Springer (right) has been held on $2m bail over claims he fondled two girls
Concern: Students are escorted to a bus outside Miramonte, which will be closed for two days this week
Berndt taught at Miramonte Elementary School, where the entire staff was replaced this week amid outrage from parents.
Officials at the school are also investigating yet another allegation of misconduct,involving a teacher's aide accused of sending love letters to an 11-year-old boy.
The mother of the fourth-grader told the Los Angeles Times that the aide, a woman the mother said appeared to be in her fifties, sent at least three letters to her son in 2009, including one that read: 'When you get close to me, even if you give me the chills I like that. Don't tell nobody about this!'
The furor led to two more parents coming forward on Thursday to complain that teacher Martin Springer, 49, who had worked at the school for 26 years, fondled two second-grade girls in his classroom.
Springer pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after he was charged with committing lewd acts upon one girl in 2009.
Bail was set at $300,000.
Police have set forth no connection between the cases, but parents' confidence has been badly shaken.
In the latest allegations to come to light, the teacher's aide wrote a letter signing herself 'sad girl' because she was being transferred to another school, the mother alleged.
The mother went to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which directed her to the school.
During a meeting that included the mother, her son, his teacher and an assistant principal, the teacher's aide acknowledged writing letters and said she had a grandmotherly affection for the boy.
The aide no longer works for the school system, district spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said.
'Innocent victims': The news that all the teachers have been dismissed has not been welcomed by everyone as some parents say their children have formed real bonds with some staff
Anger: About three dozen parents gathered outside the school yesterday morning before joining a 100-strong group for a meeting with the school's administrators last night
Voicing concerns: A student passes protesting parents on his arrival at Miramonte Elementary school yesterday. More than a quarter of students were absent yesterday while parents demanded more protection
The move to replace the entire staff has been met with mixed feelings.Some parents applauded the decision, but others protested the move and circulated a petition calling for the staff at the school to be reinstated.
All 120 staff members at Miramonte will be replaced as of Thursday after a two-day school shutdown as part of Los Angeles Unified School District's investigation into the two veteran teachers arrested last week.
'It's the most severe action I've seen taken by a school district,' said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, an advocacy organization based in Las Vegas.
The decision on Monday came after about three dozen people protested in front of the main doors of the school earlier in the day, some carrying a banner that read: 'We the parents demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts.'
It also followed a march later in the day, in which 100 angry parents marched from the elementary school to the nearby administrators meeting.
Mother Maria Jimenez said some parents would at least like to have been notified that this was being considered as many feel it's drastic.
'They did this without advising us or consulting us,' she said.
Anger: Furious parents are alleging a cover-up and have been protesting outside the school. A lot of pupils have been absent the last few days as the entire staff is replaced
Worried about the students: Los Angeles School District Superintendent John Deasy announces that the entire teaching staff of Miramonte Elementary School will be relocated in the wake of the arrests of two teachers over child sexual abuse allegations
But they did not want good teachers removed, said Martha Escutia, a lawyer and former state senator who is helping parents to organize a group named Mothers of Miramonte.
'This is not being very well received,' Escutia said. 'Some kids have established close relationships with their teachers.'
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he supported Deasy's decision to replace the staff.
'I think we need to do everything we can to make sure these kids, these students and their families, get the help that they need and to get to the bottom of how this happened,' he said.
The school board on Tuesday voted unanimously to fire Springer. He has 30 days to file an appeal.
Berndt was fired in January 2011 after the district learned of a sheriff's department probe. He appealed and resigned six months later.
Miramonte's old staff will continue being paid and will be housed at an undisclosed location at least until August while each person is thoroughly interviewed, Deasy said.
Replacing teaching staffs at schools has been done in LAUSD and other schools, but in cases of chronically low academic performance. Teachers usually must reapply for their jobs, and the turnover does not also extend to support staff.
Furious: Parent Tessi Garcia airs her grievances to reporters over the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the school
Uncertain times: A student carries a class project to school yesterday as parents and the media gather outside
Comforting: A parent hugs her child at the start of the school day. School bosses say they are trying to 'govern emotion' as the investigation continues
It's unclear whether any staffers will return to Miramonte. On Tuesday, they were packing up their classroom belongings to head to a nearby newly constructed school that is unoccupied, district spokesman Tom Waldman said.The new principal will be a retired principal, while the rest of the new staffers, including some 90 teachers, are former district personnel who were laid off due to budget cuts in recent years, the district said.
Deasy said the new staff members are being vigorously screened for any previous complaints against them.
Each of the approximately 90 teachers will be accompanied in class by a psychiatric social worker to address possible issues caused by the scandal and the midyear disruption.
The cost of the plan has not yet been determined, but Deasy said he was sparing no expense to understand how the abuse occurred over some years and no one reported it.
The district's investigation, which will be handled by an independent commission led by retired California Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Moreno, will include interviewing past students and staff at Miramonte.
Driven to act: The protest was an unusual event in the poor, overwhelmingly Latino neighborhood, where many parents and students struggle with the English language
School sex abuse expert Mary Jo McGrath, an attorney who has conducted some 350 abuse investigations, said the investigation could uncover more cases.'It's not a witch hunt, it's just that someone is really looking,' she said. 'Cases start unpeeling like an onion. It's always the same pattern.'
The third teacher, a woman, is reportedly suspected of having conspired with her two male co-workers to procure potential victims for them.
Lawyer Brian Claypool said that Berndt got away with it by going into her class and whispering in her ear. Then, the teacher would pull out two little girls from her class, ‘and she’d walk the little girls right through the common door into Mr Berndt’s dungeon.’
He told ABC News that his accusation came from talking with three current and former students, who are now being tested for HIV/AIDS and other STIs.
He allegedly blindfolded the students in his classroom and fed them his semen with a spoon. Children were allegedly told it was a 'tasting game'.
Teacher Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on Friday - just four days later - on suspicion of fondling two girls in his classroom.
Heated: Los Angeles Unified School District police guard the front door of Miramonte Elementary school as parents protest outside
Mixed emotions: Parents are divided over the move to remove all the school's staff. Some feel they should have been consulted first
Mobilising: Protesting parents were given advice by former state senator-turned-lawyer Martha Escutia on how to organize their movement
United Teachers Los Angeles said in a statement that union leaders and staff have met with instructors at Miramonte.
'We support a thorough, vigorous and fair investigation of all allegations,' the statement said. 'It's everyone's responsibility to ensure that any and all allegations are thoughtfully and carefully investigated.'
Maria Jimenez, 51, said the parents of children enrolled at Miramonte are divided over the move. 'Some are in favor. Others are against it because they did this without advising us or consulting us,' she said.
More than a quarter of the students at Miramonte were absent from school on Monday while parents demanded more protection at the school, with attendance reaching just 72 per cent, according to figures from the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The protest was an unusual event in the poor, overwhelmingly Latino neighborhood, where many parents and students struggle with the English language.
Furore: Members of the media gather outside the Miramonte last Friday following the arrest of Springer, who was pulled from a classroom just days after Berndt was charged
Springer taught at Miramonte for his entire career, which started in 1986, the district said. He taught second grade.
Investigators said they know of no connection between the Miramonte cases. Berndt and Springer know each other and took their classes on at least two joint field trips in the past decade, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The district set up a toll-free hotline on Monday to receive reports of suspected abuse at Miramonte, said school board President Monica Garcia in a statement.
Garcia added that the district would step up efforts to ensure students and staff realized the importance of reporting misconduct.
In the same school district, a janitor at a San Fernando Valley elementary school was arrested on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a child on a campus.
Many people finally gathered around former state senator-turned-lawyer Martha Escutia, who lectured them in Spanish about how to organize for the media and suggested a catchy name for their fledgling movement: Mothers of Miramonte.
Accused: Berndt, pictured with a student in 2003, is suspected of blindfolding
children in his class and spoon feeding them his semen
children in his class and spoon feeding them his semen
As night fell, about 100 angry parents marched from the elementary school to the nearby meeting with administrators.
School police watched and sheriff's deputies were on hand, but there was no violence.
Berndt, who worked at the school for 32 years, was charged with committing lewd acts on 23 children, ages six to 10, between 2005 and 2010.
Paul Adame, 37, was taken into custody after a mother told police on Sunday that he had inappropriate contact with her child during school hours Friday at Germain Elementary School in the Chatsworth area north of Los Angeles, police Capt. Kris Pitcher said at a news conference.
The captain declined to provide details but urged anyone who might know of other possible victims to contact police.
Adame was booked and released on $100,000 bail Monday. It could not be immediately determined if he had an attorney.
There was no immediate connection between the arrest of the janitor and the cases at Miramonte, which is 15 miles (24 kilometers) away in an unincorporated county area of South Los Angeles.
