E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA Los Angeles public school teacher accused of engaging in lewd acts with students, allegedly had questions raised about his behavior more than 20 years ago. KNBC's Robert Kovacik reports.
LOS ANGELES -- A longtime Los Angeles teacher accused of bizarre acts of lewd conduct and taking photographs of children -- some blindfolded in a classroom with tape over their mouths -- was investigated in 1994 for allegedly trying to fondle a 10-year-old girl, according to authorities.
The alleged act occurred in September 1993, but was not reported to officials at Miramonte Elementary School until the following January 1994, Lt. Carlos Marquez said. The girl claimed the former teacher, 61-year-old Mark Berndt, reached toward her genitals during class, but she pushed away his hands, according to the sheriff's department.
The school notified the sheriff's department, which opened an investigation. Charges were not filed in that case.
The school district has launched its own investigation into the current allegations against Berndt.
Read original story on NBCLosAngeles
Berndt, who worked at Miramonte for more than 30 years, is jailed on $23 million bond. He is accused of felony molestation involving 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010.
He was arrested earlier this week after authorities were notified by a film processing technician of 40 photographs that depicted blindfolded children in a classroom with tape over their mouths. Some images showed the former teacher with his arm around the children or hand over their mouths, according to investigators.
California State Penal Code requires film processors to report suspected child abuse.
About 100 similar photos were found at Berndt's home, according to the sheriff's department. About 250 additional photos were recovered by Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau detectives from the film processing business.
'Never talked about again'
Meanwhile, two women who said they were former students of Berndt told the Los Angeles Times that complaints were made about Berndt's odd behavior as far back as 1990.
Marlene Trujillo, a 30-year-old paralegal, said she and two other fourth-grade classmates spoke with a school counselor about Berndt. They told the counselor he often moved his hands under his desk, near his lap, at the front of the classroom. She and other students also had seen a jar of Vaseline in one of his desk compartments.
“I didn’t say much during the meeting,” Trujillo told the Los Angeles Times. Finally, the counselor “just told us it’s not very good to make stories up. She said it was our imagination. It was never talked about again.”
Trujillo's classmate, Nadine Martinez Rodriguez, said she also noticed Berndt's behavior. Martinez said she told her mother about it at the time but that her mother didn't take it seriously enough to report to school officials, according to the Times.
School officials tried to determine how the alleged behavior went on unsuspected for so long.
"How do I make sense out of the fact that this took place over a number of years and no one seemed to know about that?" Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy told the Times. "I'm definitely trying to understand how someone could not have known."
'Souvenir'
Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces.
Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were shown with a spoonful of milky liquid placed near their lips, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said.
The photo sessions were treated as a game and some children were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats, Scott said. Berndt didn't sell or share the photographs but did give copies to some children, Scott said.
"It was like a souvenir," Scott said.
NBCLosAngeles.com's Jonathan Lloyd and Jess Gary contributed to this report, as did The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Sevil Omer.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
- Snow heading for central US, but not areas north
- Why are fans paying medical bills for skier Burke?
- Rebellious Chinese village takes steps toward democracy
- London landlords evict tenants to gouge Olympic tourists
Leave a Comment:
Hope the inmates will take care of this before a trial.
@Adam-2011718 -- the inmates don't want his used and dried up @sswhole. They want young meat.
"He was arrested earlier this week after authorities were notified by a film processing technician of 40 photographs that depicted blindfolded children in a classroom with tape over their mouths."
Now there is an American hero.
It's good to know child rapists are the bottom of the barrel in prison. I'm sure a couple of guards will turn their backs for an hour or so.
I hope all you Union Zombies and other Americans realize that this SCUM BAG will still receive his Teachers Pension for LIFE - $3900 per Month!
Hey California TAX PAYERS, Make Sure You All Hug A California Teachers Union Member Today! YOUR PAYING FOR IT! Too Funny and yet you nuts keep electing Liberal Democrats (Paid Union Thugs)!
I have zero sympthy for you people. I wish he was getting 100k a month!
Of course you do, because your political enemies are more important then... getting justice for a child molester. Don't provide a link, or state where you got this knowledge. Just make the accusation, wish financial prosperity for a child molester, and blame the Democratic party because they support unions.
You stay classy in your hatred of liberals and enthusiasm of child molesters.
OK Scott you must be one of those people who is too lazy to do their homework. Your part of the O-Generation... Obama Give Me What I Want. Life Is Not Fair, Sniffle, Sniffle.. I called the guy a scum bag u illiterate fool! Waa, need a tissue? Or will your mommy take care of that for you?
L.A. teacher suspected of lewd conduct keeps benefits - LA Times:
calm down Flash8. the guy wasn't a public school teacher. there is no pension. stop sensationalizing
Hey Flash... your mom says the trailer fell off the blocks again, and she's out of Jack. Stop listening to AM radio and get on that, redneck.
We need to stop depending on the boogie man or some mythical "Bubba" to punish these subhumans who violate children and take care of it like we're supposed to in the judicial system. These types of crimes have been overlooked far too long in this country, because they are often committed by people in authority. It makes me sick to know that this man's "odd" behavior has been ignored for decades, and the children who tried to report it, were told it was their "imaginations." And remember, folks, these are your tax dollars at work.
I looked up flash8's article. (I've been on long enough and posted enough to earn link privileges):
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/la-teacher-suspected-of-lewd-conduct-keeps-benefits.html
However, this paragraph indicates that the pension may be ended any minute now:
“A teacher will receive their pension regardless of the reason for their termination because it is a benefit the teacher earned through their contributions and length of service,” said Michelle Mussuto, a spokeswoman for CalSTRS. “Once earned, that benefit cannot be taken away unless it is determined the teacher obtained that benefit by fraudulent means.”
I would say that an abuser passing himself off as a teacher would be fraud.
pishaw: Typical Liberal/Marxist: Personal attracts. But you my union friend are most likely mirroring your own life. My title ends in Esq. Do you know what that means? Most likely no you're a bi-product of the public school system.
I see people like you in my office every day.... Poor soul.
scir91onYouTube: I have no response for you except for..... Keep breeding OK! Obama/Socialist Party needs more future voters.
Troll away Flash I could say you're wasting your time but having read your posts it's obvious your time is worthless. Try getting your tongue out of Rush Limbaugh's ass crack.
Anyone who takes false pride by pushing their Esq. in my face will not get my business. I prefer humans, ambulance chaser.
Adam-2011718 This monster should be punished to the upmost limit of the law. I actully think that child molosters should never be allowed out of prison. You however are advocating Rape or violence and that shows that you are deranged as well. People who violate the law should be punished but the government has an obligation when they imprison someone owes protection to them. This obligation is for the protection of society. Seek professional help or the councel of your religious leader if you have one. SICK
I am sure his Union Rep kept him safe.
What a stupid, ignorant thing to say!
But probably accurate.
hey Chris...not stupid or ignorant at all. Sure is interesting that the political agenda of MSNBC left this part out of the story.
Is there nothing you dolts won't turn into a political football? Find a way to blame this on Obama. I swear you people are sickening.
Actually, it would be the ADMINISTRATION who should have been aware of this. Union reps aren't in the classroom doing observations, admins are. Obviously the admins were not doing their job, if this has been going on for years and was not noticed.
Chris-824515:
The only stupidity involved is your comment.
That's what unions do, their job is to protect their members. The dude was reported, investigated, never charged. No reason to punish him, the union makes sure he's treated like an innocent person. Deal with it.
Becasue you are sure of something no one knows, is that right ?
Is there no limits to sickness of the republican party, apparently supporting unions is tenement to molesting children. And they wonder why they can't produce a candidate to defeat what should be a one term President. Democrats are no peaches, but republicans have become a dysfunctional group with the thinking capacity and restraint of pop tossing monkeys.
There is almost a glee here for fact that a child molester was as member of a union so they could fire off degrading comments about democrats in a story about a lot of kids being molested.
Read the one above idiot! Its administration - not the union. The people on here that say you guys have nothing you won't stoop to, are SOOO correct. And to think I'm a Republican - tell you what - the more STUPID I hear the more I'm thinking of becoming an Independent and I've been Republican for over 30 years. The fact that you would rather a child molestor get $100,000 is about as sick and twisted as it gets.
Again, can I just say............IODIOTS!!!
Chris, don't try to enlighten these kind of folks. They have an agenda and they will twist everything and anything to fit that purpose. This kind of thing happens all over this country, and these criminals are protected, not by unions, but by the administrative people they report to. Where's the union in the Jerry Sandusky case? I read about a case in TN where a cop was adopting children and molesting them. I guess the union protected him, too. What about the priests who molest children -- their administrators protected these criminals - not a union. Boy Scout leaders who molest boys -- in a union, too? You think getting rid of unions will stop children from being molested?
You know what the sad part is? That the violation of children is used to push a political agenda. It's not only sad, but speaks volumes about what these kind of people really care about and it sure He11 ain't the protection of children.
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy — then the No. 2 in command — said he acted to remove Berndt from class the same day he saw the photos and felt there was justification for immediate dismissal. Records indicate that Berndt was pulled from the school on Jan. 6, 2011. And, then-L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who has since retired, said he ordered Berndt to be fired when he heard about the photos.
The district’s legal staff warned Cortines that there might be complications for acting so quickly. Standard practice in L.A. Unified and elsewhere has been to “house” teachers in a district office, away from students, until a legal issue is resolved. But Cortines said he told senior staff that he didn’t want to wait, an account that was confirmed by a former Cortines aide.
By Feb. 15, the paperwork was ready for the elected Board of Education to dismiss Berndt formally and the school board ratified Cortines’ decision. As of Feb. 16, the district stopped paying Berndt, said Vivian Ekchian, chief human resources officer for L.A. Unified.
But the matter didn't end there. Berndt had 30 days to challenge his dismissal, which he did with the help of Trygstad, Schwab & Trygstad, a firm known for representing the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles. In this case, Berndt hired the firm privately; its specialties include defending teachers facing dismissal.
Berndt’s case was then set to go before an administrative hearing panel, a process that would take months. While awaiting a hearing, Berndt resigned from the school system in June 2011, six months after Deasy and Cortines determined to fire him.
Because Berndt never was officially fired, he retains lifetime health benefits that he earned through decades of service in L.A. Unified. Ekchian said the district is researching its options for trying to rescind those benefits should Berndt be convicted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/la-teacher-suspected-of-lewd-conduct-keeps-benefits.html I put the points in bold type.
He'll have his pension for life...just watch.
he may have his pension for life, but i have a feeling that won't be too long once he gets to jail
Whats sad to contemplate is how many victims are out there since the development of digital cameras.
navy...
This has been going on far longer than any digital invention. A famous bank robber was once quoted saying that he robbed banks because "that's where the money is".
Well...school is one of the places where children always are. And they have been there since the invention of the classroom. So have child abusers.
I think navyvet is just saying there are some predators out there with digital cameras or polaroids that can't be caught by film developers turning in film for development...apparently, this guy would have gone on abusing kids if he had been using a polaroid or digital camera...
I can tell you from experience that school sytems in this nation have covered for abusive teachers just as much as the Catholic Church has covered for abusive priests. The strange way things have developed in this country, it is easier for the media to expose priests than to expose schoolteachers. Maybe that's because Catholocism and Christianity have been under media assault for years and years. Schoolteachers always get a free pass.
Of course, school officials, superintendents, and boards of education have a greater need to cover up problems because they are more heavily reported on in the local news and because they have to go to their town's taxpayers every year to ask for more and more money.
OK - who let the nuts out of the funny farm?? I should have known that there would be some who would try to use their own anti-union agenda in such a way - to say that people would know and hide something like this is reprehensible and irresponsible. But I guess I shouldn't expect anything different *SIGH*
Chris...
Sorry to disappoint you, but my family has been involved in one of these cases. Once it became public, we learned that 10 children (ages 11-14) had complained about the same teacher the year before. Once my name became public, young women began calling me to tell me what had happened to them from years earlier.
In my case the union was not an issue, although they had their rep at every school board meeting where the problem was being discussed. The larger issue was the school principal, who had stated about the male teacher involved "he's been my friend for 18 years and has worked for me for 10".
And I'm a nut ? I saw 4 of the involved children, including mine, have their young lives seriously impacted. All in a concerted effort to protect a teacher and a local school system.
There is nothing "funny" about this problem.
Chris, in Tony's original post s/he mentioned nothing about the union. It was all about the admins.
Tony,
Yes "Catholocism and Christianity have been under media assault for years and years", maybe because of little things like: being a closed institution, at one time running large parts of the known world, or the inquisition.
I don't agree that "superintendents, and boards of education have a greater need to cover up problems because they ...have to go to their town's taxpayers every year to ask for more and more money."
The church goes to their followers weekly to get money. And can threaten their accusers with eternal damnation.
Shot...
School systems hush this stuff up for the same reasons that Catholic churches did...they don'y want bad publicity because they must ask for growing amounts of money every year.
And "yes"...to union supporters, as if 'unions' should even be much in this discussion...school boards and superintendents are afraid of doing anything to frighten the local teacher's union when these things happen. And they also know that should a teacher be dismissed, there are almost always appeals filed the union's lawyers and thing get messy pretty quickly.
i think i as well myself seem to question the union's backing of "paid administrative leave" when it comes to "collective rights". it wasnt until maybe 2 yrs ago these pedophiles, and other criminals alike are on "paid leave" while investigations are going on. The ONLY reason the "UNION" is seeking to to get his share coming is because it needs the money. how many countless others still recieved bennies even tho the crime they commited was deplorable, and a mistrust in the position the held, mainly to include "teachers". in comparison one could go as far to say,or question, what is the number of priests to date vs teachers staewide? nation wide? world wide? i think teachers have it hands down for future criminal training/harboring, and worse it has union backing its rights. worse yet, its our tax dollars.
let me correct myself
i meant to say that in past tense, "WERE" on paid leave while investigations were going on, in at least any case i eaver heard. from child abuse/embezzelment, you name it.
They should let the parents of the kids "clean" the chalkboard erasers on his genitals!
No. He'd probably enjoy that too much.
Always regretted not punching the teacher's face in. Although I did absolutely guarantee the school's principal that I would ruin her life for covering up for this teacher and punishing kids who complained. That mission did get accomplished.
THis makes me very scared for my 2 /12 year old daughter to enter school. This @!$%# goes on more than is reported (apparently). if your kids come home and tell you something is off about their teacher, for pete's sake, get to the school and have them investigate before something like this happens.
Biscuits...
Over 15 years ago, in my case. I have been very involved in this issue ever since. Ended up in a federal lawsuit over this and it had dramatic effects on every kid involved. I have had several parents contact me thru the years because of the public exposure.
I read a lot of newspapers and see these cases popping up everywhere. I have always said that if a problem like this is not happening in the schools in your own town, it is happening in one of the towns that borders your town. If I'd colored in a town on a map of my state, I'll bet my theory is very close to being correct. And those are only the cases that went public. Most do not. Most parents are afraid.
In one town, a teacher was having an affair with a student. After he was arrested, he sued based on his constitutionally protected right of "Freedom of Association". He did end up in jail.
I've also maintained that the younger the child, the more true the story usually is.
If you keep your eyes on the newspaper, you'll see these stories popping up every year, in one town or another.
Living in LA and hearing this story over and over on the TV, radio, and now reading it here is making me sick.
If I hear one more time about a blue teaspoon of white liquid I am going to puke. Please stop! We got it already!
Can we just focus on the scum that is responsible for this horrific child abuse and make sure he never sees the light of day - again!
And can we also focus on the school counselor who ignored the children who reported some of this vile behavior???
Crying....
The children do get ignored...or accused of being liars. That is basically Step 1 and Step 2.
Crying shame: Thank you.
This is bizarre story on a number of levels. But I can't quite see the abuse. Is fit for taking goofy pictures? Granted, blind-folded and tape over the mouth might be strange and even unsettling. You might tell a etcher to cease and desist. But is that abuse? The article alludes that the teacher might be masturbating, but there is nothing definitive. And having gasoline in your desk drawer is evidence of what?
I flat out don't get it. There must be more to this story.
Hold onto your stomach...there will be much more to this story.
I missed my typos. The corrected is below. I am search for more details. Anyone find other links?
This is bizarre story on a number of levels. But I can't quite see the abuse. Is fit for taking goofy pictures? Granted, blind-folded and tape over the mouth might be strange and even unsettling. You might tell a teacher to cease and desist. But is that abuse? The article alludes that the teacher might be masturbating, but there is nothing definitive. And having Vaseline in your desk drawer is evidence of what?
I flat out don't get it. There must be more to this story.
tomilvento
Do you have children? If someone ever tied up my kids and blindfolded them and put a giant cockroach on their faces and put semen on a spoon and took pictures of them this way, I would MOST DEFINITELY call it ABUSE!
Not the mention the semen laced cookies that he had the kids eat. The implication of masturbation was probably not imagined by the kids either. Kids instinctively know when something doesn't seem right. At 10 years old they probably don't know about masturbation yet, but when someone is doing it under their desk right in front of them I would definitely call it ABUSE!
Ok, here is a much better story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095203/Mark-Berndt-LA-teacher-bound-gagged-children-fed-semen-jailed-23m-bail.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
They found his semen in the classroom, and the cookies also contained semen. And you will also find that many parents and children liked him. "At first, neither the parents nor the children believed they had been molested, so there wasn't much reaction, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. It was only after the matter of the semen was raised that they became alarmed."
Poor reporting MSNBC.
Auzziegirl - I have children. I think the pictures are bizarre and should have brought a reprimand immediately. But the children were not tied up. "blindfolded children in a classroom with tape over their mouths. "
The semen was barely mentioned in MSNBC story. I found another story with more detail and the police found his semen in the classroom and in the cookies. That is abuse. The MSNBC story is poorly written.
tomilvento..
dood...use spell check. he didn't have gasoline in his desk. don't people proof read their notes?
dood? Dude, use spell check.
Of course this is not the "first" time and the school superintendent, principal and counselors need to be summarily fired. This monster probably has a VERY LONG history of abusing children and has most likely gone from school to school (interstate and without state). When he gets caught, the administrators "make it go away" by terminating his employment, giving a severance check in return for silence, and not reporting him to the police if he goes away quietly. This is done to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits against the school district. I would not be surprised if a large number of children reported this to their parents and the parents did nothing either, letting this pedophile operate as usual.
1ad...
You hit the problem right on the head...most parents are hesitant to pursue trouble with their local school system and are afraid of the publicity.
In retrospect, I can't much blame them. In my town, I attended a school board meeting while in the middle of the whole mess. Some 'school supporting' parents decide to march into the meeting with a bunch of high school students and they all proudly stood in support of their school system. The telephone threats began that night...including one gentleman, obviously a strong school supporter, who told me on the telephone that if I did not stop, he was going to rape my 8 year old daughter. A few days later someone called and asked to speak to my son ( a witness in the case ) and he flat out told my 11 year old son that if he saw my name in the newspaper again he was going to kill me. He said that to an 11 year old kid. I had a letter to the editor in the local newspaper that weekend expressly written about that caller and to that caller and I extended an open invitation to him to visit my house anytime he wanted and wrote that since he knew my name he could easily find my address in the telephone book.
Not one of these cowards ever attempted anything.
I'm sure his union did everything they could to make sure none of the old allegations ever saw the light of day. In their eyes he's equal in skills and integrity to all his union brothers and sisters.
One of scholl counselors favorite lines is to claim that the student has a "victim`s mentality". I have this used to pass over behavoir by bullies and other aggressors who kept up their behavior until they were old enough to end up in prison. People who don`t want to deal with troublemakers don`t help anyone.
I have found that for the most part the teachers do not listen to the children or they accuse them of making it up. I'm sure lots of people knew there were allegations, but no one would listen to the children and investigate. What a crying shame. Some parents don't even listen to their children. Just try to get a straight story from a teacher regarding something that your child has reported to you. A lot of the time, the children don't really understand what is going on, just that it feels wrong to them. Someone needs to listen to them. Had a teacher that did similar things when I was in school. Was reported numerous times, but he got to stay on as a teacher to young children until he retired many many years later. Who knows how many children he "messed" with.
Whatever...
Those children surely know !
What kind of school counselor accuses a child that's been molested of lying?!?! That bitch should've been fired on the spot, for not believing her!
And what kind of "mother" and I use that term loosely, would just sit idly by and dismiss the child's complaints? The two adults that could've stepped in and helped her did NOTHING but brush it off. Unbelievable.
If I were her, I'd hate my mother for life if she dismissed something like that.
Probably the same kind of school counselor that says to me back in the 90s "You shouldn't take a foreign language. You'll fail because you're not smart enough." I showed that b**** up hard! As the whole year, and scored spanish student of the year.
Here's looking at you Norma Fleischman of Connecticut! I have never forgotten your words nor my victory.
I also know a woman who dismissed her daughter's accusations that her (the mother's) boyfriend did things to her. Ironically said woman had criminal history of her own for... Guess what!
Yeah...it's really a shame.
To any young person or minor reading this: if a school counselor has accused you of lying when you confided in them about abuse, or if your own parents have just dismissed it, then it's time to take matters into your own hands and contact the police and CPS.
Almost every time these things happen, the first response from those we call "educators" is to cast doubt on the child's story. The choice is between a fellow teacher they have known and worked with for years...and somebody else's child they really know very little about.
The fellow teacher gets the nod unless there's blood on his hands.
$23 million dollar bond? I mean he needs to be punished for what he has done. But the Courts need to rule in accordance with Constitutional rights
Charges should be filed against that first guidance counselor as well.
There is always a history. With 23 kids over 5 years it certainly wasn't the first time. These can't be the first sourvenir pictures he's take over the years, so why was he caught now? It's hard to believe that he's brought pictures to film processors over the years and was never caught. I'm sure he'll be very popular in jail. I expect him to end up accidentally killed.
If he or anyone else fondled my kids they would be DEAD !
In Penna a high school principal was caught sitting in his office stark-butt naked shooting up drugs with drugs in his desk.There were a lot of people,parents kids that said "oh he was a great teacher,leader principal etc."He did do some time in jail not much and is out already.
These school official's who don't act Immediately on complaint's of this kind should be thrown in jail along with the pervert teacher. School official's are just as much to blame when this kind of thing continues and should be held accountable.
some odd people out there in California.
Odd people everywhere, but we recently had an even worse case in Missouri where the perpetrator was a student and the school administrators abused the victim who reported him.
In my state we had a teacher accused of raping a student who was "amazingly" the only student to arrive at a meeting location for what was to be a class field trip. The teacher was arrested and charged. When the grl got back to her school, the other teachers were wearing yellow ribbons in support of their co-worker. I guess they all forgot the ribbons they were going to wear to show support for the assaulted girl !
This makes me wonder about the fifth grade teacher my daughter had. She and her friends thought he was kind of creepy and perhaps a bit too friendly. That was almost ten years ago now and while she said nothing specific ever happened, it reminds me that when we get that uncomfortable feeling in our gut, we should pay attention to it, which is what I told her at the time. I hope he has never touched any of his students inappropriately.
Jerry Sandusky's new best friend
Wow, what a great school counselor.
And now the truth comes out...most people thought it impossible for a predator to victimize children for this long without some accusations coming out, and we were right. Sounds like the local DA needs to prosecute this case like they have at Penn State and file criminal charges against every despicable education "professional" who sat on their hands while this sub-human cretin tortured children. Execute Mark Berndt, imprison the other culpable parties, and then burn their houses down as a warning to every other predator and parasite.
WTF? Sperm laced cookies? Who are the people who have been running that school?