Another teacher arrested in LAUSD sex abuse saga

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Today's revelations about Gabriela Cortez, a Spanish teacher at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, are the latest in a long month of sex abuse allegations against LAUSD teachers.

Cortez was arrested late Wednesday on suspicion of sexual intercourse with two minors, her former students.

But accusations began nearly a month ago, when Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt was arrested and charged with 23 counts of lewd acts involving students.

Next, another Miarmonte teacher was arrested. Then there was a Chatsworth janitor, a Crenshaw High School teacher and a high school athletic assistant at Polytechnic High School. And now that Superintendent John Deasy has ordered a review of all the district's discipline cases, more could surface.

Sandi Gibbons, Communications Director for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, said trying all these teachers could take anywhere from six months to ten years.

"It depends on if the defendant waives time and wants more time to go over the charges, it depends on motions filed with the court, it depends on the length of trial, it depends on the length of preliminary hearing," Gibbons said. "There's no timetable except a defendant has certain rights."

But Ferol Mennen, an associate professor of Social Work at the University of Southern California, is more worried about how this last month has affected kids.

"All of the hooplah and people coming to the school and moving all the teachers - it seems like they were not doing a lot to try to make this as good as possible for the kids and lessen the trauma for the kids," Mennen said.

Miramonte Elementary School reassigned its entire staff after its second teacher was arrested in early February.

"We're now painting teachers as terrible people who prey on kids, when most teachers are good and dedicated people," Mennen said. "It seems a little bit like a witch hunt."

Court proceedings are just starting for Mark Berndt, the first Miramonte teacher arrested, who pled "not guilty" on all his counts yesterday. Gibbons says officials cannot know when they will end.

"As far as the trial goes, it could be a long trial, it could be a short trial," Gibbons said. "It depends on the witnesses. It depends on the defense. There's too many variables."

But the longer the trial takes, the easier it is for the defense to win - and the harder it is for those children called to testify to do so accurately.

"Children are difficult witnesses," Mennen said. "Let's say you have a 12-year-old on the stand, and he's telling a story the way he experienced it when he was six or seven... Your whole conception of time and experience is very different. You look to a jury as if you are not telling the truth because you don't tell it, you can't remember it as a 12 or 14-year old. It makes it much more difficult for them to be witnesses. So time passing is really good for the defense attorneys."

More allegations may arise in coming months. But for the students involved now, this is only the beginning.

Tags: Rosalie Murphy, LAUSD, Miramonte, sex abuse, sexual assault, scandal, teachers, students, Los Angeles, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Gabriela Cortez