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Ukiah teacher's aide charged with child molestation
April 10, 2004
By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A Mendocino County teacher's aide has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two 6-year-old girls at Black Oak Charter School in Ukiah.
Jessie Israel Garcia, 35, of Ukiah, was charged with two counts of felony child molestation and a special allegation there were multiple victims, according to Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Marianna Lehr.
If convicted, Garci
faces a potential sentence of life in prison, she said.
Lehr declined to give details of the case, saying it could jeopardize the ability to find an impartial jury when the case goes to trial.<b
r><
r>
Garcia is being held in the Mendocino County Jail on $500,000
bail. Federal authorities have placed an immigration hold on Garcia, who was born in Mexico.
The arrest "was an extreme surprise," said Anthony Melville, principal of Black Oak Charter School.
Garcia had worked at the school for about three years, Melville said. He said Garcia had told school administrators that he had obtained U.S. citizenship, but the school had no proof of Garcia's status. He declined to comment further on the arrest, saying he needs to consult an attorney.
Garcia, who has lived in Ukiah for about five years, has no prior record involving child molestation, Lehr said. He has, however, been arrested on minor misdemeanor charges, including suspicion of petty theft
and trespassing.
Garcia was arrested Tuesday after a month-long investigation conducted by the state Department of Justice's California Bureau of Investigation in conjunction with
the
Cali
fornia Hig
hway Patrol. The state agencies investigated the case because Black Oak Charter School is located
on Redwood Empire Fairgrounds property, which is owned by the state, according to Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Robert DeMiguel.
News of the arrest surprised Ukiah Unified School District officials, under whose auspices the school is chartered.
"We haven't been notified," Assistant Superintendent Ray Chadwick said Friday.
The district will be taking a close look at the case to determine if Black Oak Charter School was somehow negligent in the hiring and oversight of Garcia, Chadwick said.
If it failed to do fingerprinting and a background check, as schools are required to do on all school employees, "their charter would be in jeop
ardy," Chadwick said.
He said someone with an arrest record for shoplifting wouldn't necessarily be precluded from working at a school, but it would be a considerat
ion.
"We will loo
k into this, investigate it and take the appropriate action," Chadwick said.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or ganders
on@pressdemocrat.com
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/10..._b3empireb.html
Ukiah teacher's aide charged with child molestation
April 10, 2004
By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A Mendocino County teacher's aide has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two 6-year-old girls at Black Oak Charter School in Ukiah.
Jessie Israel Garcia, 35, of Ukiah, was charged with two counts of felony child molestation and a special allegation there were multiple victims, according to Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Marianna Lehr.
If convicted, Garci
faces a potential sentence of life in prison, she said.
Lehr declined to give details of the case, saying it could jeopardize the ability to find an impartial jury when the case goes to trial.<b
r><
r>
Garcia is being held in the Mendocino County Jail on $500,000
bail. Federal authorities have placed an immigration hold on Garcia, who was born in Mexico.
The arrest "was an extreme surprise," said Anthony Melville, principal of Black Oak Charter School.
Garcia had worked at the school for about three years, Melville said. He said Garcia had told school administrators that he had obtained U.S. citizenship, but the school had no proof of Garcia's status. He declined to comment further on the arrest, saying he needs to consult an attorney.
Garcia, who has lived in Ukiah for about five years, has no prior record involving child molestation, Lehr said. He has, however, been arrested on minor misdemeanor charges, including suspicion of petty theft
and trespassing.
Garcia was arrested Tuesday after a month-long investigation conducted by the state Department of Justice's California Bureau of Investigation in conjunction with
the
Cali
fornia Hig
hway Patrol. The state agencies investigated the case because Black Oak Charter School is located
on Redwood Empire Fairgrounds property, which is owned by the state, according to Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Robert DeMiguel.
News of the arrest surprised Ukiah Unified School District officials, under whose auspices the school is chartered.
"We haven't been notified," Assistant Superintendent Ray Chadwick said Friday.
The district will be taking a close look at the case to determine if Black Oak Charter School was somehow negligent in the hiring and oversight of Garcia, Chadwick said.
If it failed to do fingerprinting and a background check, as schools are required to do on all school employees, "their charter would be in jeop
ardy," Chadwick said.
He said someone with an arrest record for shoplifting wouldn't necessarily be precluded from working at a school, but it would be a considerat
ion.
"We will loo
k into this, investigate it and take the appropriate action," Chadwick said.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or ganders
on@pressdemocrat.com