Teacher Sexual Abuse Reporting Under Scrutiny

California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing is the state agency responsible for licensing, credentialing and disciplining teachers. A state audit report last year cited examples of alleged teacher sexual abuse misconduct that was not investigated in a timely manner by the state agency in charge of revoking education credentials. The report cited a teacher that allegedly distributed obscene material to a student, kissed a student, and made inappropriate sexual comments to female student.

The complaint backlog was reported on again this week by the media. While reports indicate that the backlog has been cleared up, published reports also claim that the Commission is taking a proactive approach with sexual molestation complaints with school districts in light of the child molestation allegations pending against accused molesters Mark Berndt and George Hernandez. Berndt and Hernandez were not reported to the Commission which allowed them to continue teaching and having access to children.

Last year the commission reviewed 129 complaints against teachers involving sex crimes with children. The law prohibits the Commission from issuing any credential to and requires the Commission to revoke a credential already issued to a person who has been convicted of any sex offense defined under Education Code Section 44010

The Commission may begin disciplinary reviews after receiving information from law enforcement, the courts, or the Department of Justice. Reviews may be triggered by complaints by an individual or a school district.

Contact a Child Molestation Victims’ Rights Lawyer
If your child and your family has been victimized by a predator, contact a San Jose child molestation victims’ rights lawyer at Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard. You get aggressive legal representation starting with a free case evaluation. And you will never be obligated to pay a penny to our attorneys unless we collect. For a confidential free consultation with an attorney, please give us a phone call at 408-289-1417. You may also fill out the case evaluation form to your right. We’re ready to help you.