| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF1297 December 12, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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FORMER TEACHER SENTENCED FOR MOLESTING TWO STUDENTS AND POSSESSING GRAPHIC CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
SANTA ANA – A former teacher was convicted and sentenced yesterday for molesting two female students, ages 13 and 15, and possessing graphic child pornography depicting young girls. Alex Bassinne, 51, Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to a court offer, Dec. 11, 2012, to one felony count each of lewd acts upon a child under 14, lewd acts upon a child, and possession and control of child pornography. Bassinne was sentenced to one year in jail, three years formal probation, and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.
At the time of the sexual assaults, Bassinne was a teacher with the Santa Ana Unified School District who had worked at Santa Ana High School and Raymond A. Villa Fundamental Intermediate School. During this time, Bassinne made inappropriate sexual comments and leered at students.
On Feb. 15, 2009, Bassinne molested 15-year-old Jane Doe #2 by touching her buttocks during a class trip. Between Nov. 1, 2010, and Nov. 4, 2010, Bassinne looked down the shirt of 13-year-old Jane Doe #1. When Jane Doe #1 attempted to move her shirt to stop him, Bassinne grabbed the victim’s shirt and positioned it so that he could continue looking down it.
In 2011, Bassinne moved with his family from a home in Laguna Niguel to a home in Newport Beach and left several items of furniture behind, including a desk. Bassinne left a disc in the desk containing images of graphic child pornography depicting girls, approximately 10 to 12 years old. In April 2011, someone discovered the disc and turned it over to law enforcement authorities.
Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) subsequently searched the defendant’s Newport Beach home. In this home, Bassinne possessed additional child pornography similar in nature to that found in the Laguna Niguel home. NBPD investigated the case and worked with the Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department to investigate any possible victims and discovered the sexual assaults against Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2.
Bassinne’s lifetime sex offender registration bars him from entering County recreational areas and city parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as 15 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.