| For Immediate Release July 11, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell |
HIGH SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER FOUND GUILTY OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FOUR FEMALE STUDENTS
SANTA ANA – A Marina High School music teacher was found guilty today of sexually assaulting four female students. Victor Rodriguez, 50, of Huntington Beach, was charged with two counts of a lewd act upon a child and two counts of child annoyance for molesting four girls between the ages of 14-17 during one-on-one singing lessons. Rodriguez is facing up to 3 years 8 months in state prison and will have to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is scheduled for August 25, at 9:00 a.m. in C43, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On several occasions from February 2003 to December 2004, Rodriguez sexually assaulted female students on campus at Marina High School. In each case, the defendant put his hands under the victims’ shirts and touching near and around their breasts for personal sexual gratification while pretending to show them the location of their diaphragms. The law prohibits willfully touching any body part of a child with the sexual intent to either arouse the child or himself. It does not matter if the child consented to the act. The body part touched need not be genitalia or buttocks.
The school administration had formally warned Rodriguez in March of 2003 for using the so-called “diaphragm technique”, and instructed Rodriguez to never use it or be alone with students again. Rodriguez molested three additional female students, but he was only charged for assaulting four of the seven because the acts occurred outside the statute of limitations.
Deputy District Attorney Shaddi Kamiabipour of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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