Empowering Voices, Ensuring Justice: Insights and Updates on Sexual Abuse Legal Battles
A teacher at a middle school in Norristown told one of his eighth-grade students that she was beautiful and asked for permission to kiss her during a planned field trip to Washington, prosecutors in Montgomery County said Wednesday. John Richards, 57 a science teacher at Blockson Middle School ,was charged with attempted institutional sexual assault, attempted corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor, and related crimes after prosecutors say the girl, 13, told her father and the school’s principal about the inappropriate text message.
Mario Moralez Guadalupe ,a janitor who works for the Riverside Unified School District has been charged with 19 felonies, including lewd acts on a minor younger than 14 years old, Riverside County Superior Court records show. A sheriff’s deputy investigating the case said there could be as many as 21 victims.
32-year-old elementary school employee Mariano Hernandez is facing charges of sexual assault after reportedly carrying on a “dating relationship” with a 16-year-old female high school student, according to police.
Terra Nova High School wood shop teacher Paul Spinetti was arrested for sexual assault, the Pacifica Police Department (PPD) announced in a press release Spinetti, 64, allegedly committed lewd and lascivious sexual acts against a female student.
On January 23, 2025, the Riverside Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Riverside County Probation Department regarding an alleged inappropriate relationship involving a former employee and a male juvenile who is in custody. As a result, investigators from the Riverside Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit launched an investigation into the allegations.
Eric Reid Zuercher, 44, of Irvine, was arrested and booked on suspicion of attempting to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to the Irvine Police Department. Zuercher, who teaches at Sierra Vista Middle School, has been placed on administrative leave.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced that Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Babak Hajhosseini, 42, is charged with sexually assaulting a woman in the city of Los Angeles on August 18.
Justin Yasutake, a 39-year-old Pasadena man who worked as a teacher and girls soccer coach for two decades ,was arrested after Arcadia police discovered child pornography on his electronic devices. Yasutake was taken into custody without incident in front of his Pasadena home and booked at the Arcadia Police Department jail for possession of child sexual abuse material, according to police.
David Lane Braff Jr. allegedly carried out the assaults from 2015 to 2019, when he worked as a counselor at the school. David Lane Braff Jr. was charged with 17 felony counts of “lewd acts” on eight students between the ages of six and 10 at McKevett Elementary School in Santa Paula on Friday, Nov. 22, according to the Ventura County District Attorney.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on November 8 that a San Fernando Valley middle school teacher, Colleen Jo Matarico, is charged with sexually abusing a male student who was between the ages of 13 and 14 years old from 2023 to 2024 while working as a teacher in the LAUSD system.
