LA primary school teacher accused of feeding kids semen-laced cookies
WHAT A HEEL: Mark Berndt, a third-grade teacher for 30 years at Miramonte elementary school in LA, was charged with lewd acts involving 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010, The Associated Press reports:
A lawyer [has] filed a claim against the Los Angeles Unified School District stating that he intended to file a lawsuit on behalf of an unidentified girl who ate a sugar cookie laced with [Berndt’s] semen. …
[A]uthorities acknowledged that 18 years ago a 10-year-old girl claimed Berndt tried to fondle her.
Prosecutors declined to file to charges against Berndt in the 1993 report, saying they didn't have enough evidence. …
The incident involving the 10-year-old girl occurred in September 1993 but wasn't reported by her mother to officials at Miramonte until the following January, after her daughter had seen an "Oprah" show about inappropriate touching, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said Thursday. …
Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces.
Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats in the photo sessions that were treated like games, Scott said. …
The latest investigation of Berndt began last fall when a film processor became suspicious about the photographs and turned them over to Redondo Beach police, who on Dec. 2 handed them over to the sheriff's department, Scott said.
Berndt, who remains in custody on $23 million bail, faces a life sentence if convicted. A few days after his arrest, a second LA teacher was arrested for inappropriate touching of students.
Comments