| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF1756 October 18, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 8TH GRADE STUDENT ON CAMPUS AND COMMITTING LEWD ACTS AGAINST TWO OTHER STUDENTS
SANTA ANA – A middle school math teacher was sentenced today to eight years in state prison for sexually assaulting an 8th grade female student while alone with her on campus and committing lewd acts against two other female students. Richard John Rack, 51, San Clemente, pleaded guilty on Aug. 26, 2013, in the midst of jury trial, after the prosecution rested its case, to two felony counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15, one felony count of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14, and one felony count of oral copulation of a minor under 16.
Rack worked as a teacher at Shorecliffs Middle School in San Clemente since 2002. At the time of the crimes, the defendant was a math teacher.
Between April and November 2011, Rack engaged in lewd conduct toward two students at the school, 13-year-old Jane Doe #1 and 14-year-old Jane Doe #2. Rack hugged and made lewd comments to the victims. Jane Doe #1 told the school principal about the conduct, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) investigated the case.
Rack was arrested June 6, 2012, for the conduct related to Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2. Following Rack’s arrest, OCSD discovered the sexual assault against Jane Doe #3.
Between February 2009 and October 2010, Rack sexually assaulted 14-year-old Jane Doe #3 which included lewd touching and oral copulation. Most of the sexual assaults took place on campus.
Rack’s lifetime registration as a sex offender bars him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 14 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance.
At the sentencing today, the mothers of Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #3 submitted a victim impact statement of the devastating effects the sexual assaults had on their daughters and asked the defendant receive the maximum sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Woods of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
###