An instructional aide in the special education department at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale has been charged with molesting a 16-year-old mentally challenged student in a campus stairwell, sheriff’s deputies said today.
The entire alleged crime was captured on school surveillance video, deputies said.
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, 60, a former employee union official, was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Friday following an investigation that began three days earlier. Deputies said Gutierrez accompanied the girl into a stairwell on May 7 and fondled her intimate parts over her clothing.
Students who witnessed the “inappropriate touching” reported it to the school’s principal. One student recorded the incident on his cellphone, but deleted it, said Sgt. Dan Scott of the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.
Scott said Gutierrez allegedly took advantage of a teenager with the mental capacity of an elementary school student.
“He’s been there over 20 years,” Scott said. “With this type of behavior, we definitely want to explore the possibility of additional victims being out there. “
Detectives from the Special Victims Unit investigated the report. Gutierrez was charged with three misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child. Scott said state law has provisions for molestation based on the victim’s age, but not dealing with mental capacity.
Gutierrez is a former president of the Centinela Valley Union High School District’s California School Employees Association, a union representing custodians, classroom aides and other nonteaching staff.
He was released from jail Saturday after posting $60,000 bail. He was not home this morning when a reporter visited his apartment, and his daughter hung up the phone during a call.
Centinela Valley district officials scheduled a news conference for later this morning.
In a statement today, the district said deputies at the Sheriff’s Department’s Lawndale service center were contacted immediately after the report was made to school officials.
“Although the district is not at liberty to disclose information that is under investigation, please rest assured that all steps have been taken to ensure the care and safety of the student involved as well as the safety and well-being of all students,” the statement said.
Superintendent Jose Fernandez said the district “will not tolerate any individual who compromised the safety of our students. “
“The district responded to the report by taking immediate action to report the incident to law enforcement and
to remove the individual from the campus,” Fernandez said in a statement. “The district is cooperating fully with law enforcement. “
In a statement, Leuzinger High School Principal Mike Ono said, “We want to reassure the Leuzinger parents, students, and community that student care is our foremost concern. We are working with staff and students to address any concerns. “
