| For Immediate Release Case #11WF0941 April 20, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MARRIED TEACHERS ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH HAVING UNLAWFUL SEX, SODOMY, AND ORAL COPULATION WITH 17-YEAR-OLD MALE STUDENT
*Law enforcement is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims
WESTMINSTER – Two married school teachers have been arrested and charged with having an unlawful sexual relationship together and on their own with a 17-year-old male high school student. Daniel Alma Shepard, 62, Huntington Beach, is charged with two felony counts of oral copulation of a minor, one felony count of sodomy with a person under 18 years old, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.
Co-defendant Gay Davidson-Shepard, 59, Huntington Beach, is charged with three felony counts each of unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy with a person under 18 years old, oral copulation of a minor, and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She faces a maximum sentence of eight years and four months in state prison.
Both defendants are being held on $150,000 bail and are scheduled to be arraigned Friday, April 22, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in Department W-15, West Justice Center, Westminster.
At the time of the crime, Gay Davidson-Shepard was a teacher at Mesa View Middle School in Huntington Beach and her husband Daniel Shepard was a teacher at Westminster High School in Westminster.
Daniel Shepard is accused of meeting John Doe while the victim was a student at Westminster High School. In March 2009, Daniel Shepard and Gay Davidson-Shepard are accused of grooming the 17-year-old victim by regularly inviting him to their Huntington Beach home to drink alcohol, eat, play board games, and watch movies.
In April 2009, the defendants are accused of sexually assaulting the victim for the first time. While John Doe was at their home, the defendants are accused of getting into the Jacuzzi naked and encouraging the victim to do the same. After getting out of the hot tub, Gay Davidson-Shepard is accused orally copulating both the victim and Daniel Shepard.
On a weekly basis beginning in April 2009, the defendants are accused of getting John Doe intoxicated by providing him with alcohol and engaging in illegal sex acts with the victim in their home including mutual masturbation, oral copulation, sexual intercourse, and sodomy. Daniel Shepard is accused of sexually assaulting John Doe until September 2009 and Gay Davidson-Shepard is accused of sexually assaulting John Doe until December 2009. The victim turned 18 years old in December 2009 and any sexual conduct with the defendant cannot be criminally charged after that time.
Daniel Shepard is also accused of asking John Doe to e-mail him nude photos of himself and taking nude photographs of the victim and the illegal sex acts.
In March 2011, the victim disclosed the sexual assault to his mother. John Doe’s mother contacted the Westminster Police Department.