Case # 15NF2656
Date: October 2, 2015
OCDA SEEKS PUBLIC’S HELP IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING SIX BOYS UNDER 15 YEARS OLD
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a junior high school drama teacher charged with sexually assaulting six boys under the age of 15. David Michael Bruce, 65, Anaheim, is charged with nine felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 and two felony counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15. If convicted, Bruce faces a maximum sentence of 125 years to life in state prison. The defendant is out of custody on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 29, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in Department N-12, North Justice Center, Fullerton.
At the time of the crimes, Bruce was employed as a drama teacher at Sycamore Junior High School in Anaheim and had access to minors. The defendant retired in 2010 but worked as a substitute teacher at the school until 2013.
Between Aug. 1, 1996, and June 30, 2011, Bruce is accused of sexually assaulting six students between the ages of 11 and 14. The defendant is accused of committing multiple lewd acts upon the victims, including touching the victims’ genitals and buttocks, and engaging in oral copulation with at least one victim.
In August 2015, a sibling of one of the victims reported the crime to the Anaheim Police Department (APD), who investigated this case and arrested the defendant on Sept. 8, 2015. The defendant was released from custody the same day after posting $100,000 bail. Subsequent investigation by APD led to the discovery of additional victims, resulting in the re-arrest of the defendant on Sept. 30, 2015, on a $1 million arrest warrant.
The investigation in this case is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to contact APD Detective Cashell at (714) 765-1972 or OCDA Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.
Deputy District Attorney Rick Zimmer of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.