Martin Springer-2nd LA Elem. Teacher Arrested-Lewd Acts Against Pupils

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Miramonte-Elementary-School-New-Year-Sex-Abuse-Suspects-Teacher-Mark-Berndt-Martin-Springer-165824726.html
Miramonte Preps for New School Year, Deal With "Aftershocks" of School Abuse Scandal
The school will be run by a new principal, Martha Contreras, who says her goal is to reestablish trust among the community
August 10, 2012

For Miramonte Elementary School, next Tuesday will mark more than the start of a new school year. It will be, in-effect, the reboot of a school shaken by charges last February that two teachers were accused of sexually abusing students.

"My concern is for student safety and academics," said Martha Contreras, Miramonte Elementary School principal.

Contreras came to the South LA school as an assistant principal last spring, when the school and community were reeling from the abuse scandal. Now, she’s taken on pressing challenges as the school’s new principal.

"I think there's a layer of things that needs to be done here at Miramonte. Number one is re-establishing the trust," she said.

Following the arrest of two Miramonte teachers accused of sexually abusing students, the school’s entire staff was replaced by substitutes last February.
Those former teachers – Mark Berndt and Martin Springer – are both scheduled to be in court next week as their former school is rebooting.

Parents and staff rallied to bring them back and dozens of the relocated teachers are returning in the fall, but not without anxiety.

"These teachers continue to suffer the aftershocks of everything that happened at Miramonte," said Ingrid Villeda, with the United Teachers of Los Angeles union.

Villeda told NBC4 the returning teachers don’t want to speak out publicly ahead of the new school year, as they did in May, but they do hope the administration will schedule a meeting with parents to deal with lingering concerns.
 ::snipping2::
Video at Link

[MuffyBee]

http://wtvr.com/2012/08/29/california-bill-on-teachers-accused-of-sex-crimes-fails/
California bill on teachers accused of sex crimes fails
August 29, 2012

Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic language and descriptions.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) – Allegations of lewd acts committed by a teacher on students in a Los Angeles-area elementary school sent shockwaves across the community last year.

But the outrage didn’t end there. Amid a year-long police investigation involving dozens of photos showing the alleged acts, the school district — faced with strict state rules — could not fire the teacher.

Instead, it paid him $40,000 to quit his job.

Police arrested Mark Berndt, 61, in January and charged him with 23 felony counts stemming from allegations that he bound young students and then photographed them with semen-filled spoons held at their mouths and 3-inch cockroaches crawling across their faces.

Investigators believe the children didn’t realize that they were being victimized, thinking they were playing a game.

Berndt pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held on $23 million bail while he awaits trial, expected next year.

The Los Angeles Unified School District found itself caught between protecting children and protecting the legal rights of a teacher who had been accused of — but not formally charged with — serious crimes against children.

Under California’s due process for teachers, the school district could have kept Berndt on paid administrative leave, but it would have had to engage in lengthy legal wrangling to remove him from his position. That process could have taken months, even years, and there are no exceptions for teachers accused of sex crimes against children.

Outraged by the Berndt case, California state Sen. Alex Padilla drafted a bill this year that would have allowed a faster way for schools to fire teachers accused of the most heinous crimes against children.

“We were very specific to those serious and egregious crimes,” Padilla said of the bill. “Sex, drugs, violence involving students. These are no-brainers.”

While senators overwhelmingly voted in support of Senate Bill 1530, it was met with strong opposition from the powerful California Teachers Association.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/miramonte-elementary-sex-abus-trial.html
Ex-Miramonte school teacher to face trial on molestation charges
September 28, 2012

Former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Martin Bernard Springer must stand trial on three counts of child molestation for allegedly inappropriately touching a girl, a judge has ruled.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dorothy B. Reyes on Thursday rejected a motion from Springer's attorney, who compared the case to a witch hunt, to dismiss the three felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a child.

Springer, 50, of Alhambra, is due back in court Oct. 11. His lawyer has insisted that Springer has been swept up in a scandal involving another teacher at the school as parents and school administrators fears escalated.
 ::snipping2::
Springer (shown above at right) was arrested initially in February in connection with molesting two girls, but prosecutors opted to file in only one of the cases. That same month, he was terminated by the Los Angeles Unified School District after teaching at Miramonte for 25 years.
 ::snipping2::
The charges against Springer, a second-grade teacher from Alhambra, come from two students he allegedly touched improperly within the last three years, though the charges announced Tuesday relate to only  one of his alleged victims. Springer faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
More...

[MuffyBee]

I've added this article posted by cw618 in Mark Berndt's thread in this thread also, since it's applicable.

LA schools settle claims over lewd 'tasting games'
 
CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press, By CHRISTINA HOAG and GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
Updated 6:58 pm, Tuesday, March 12, 2013
 ::snipping2::
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles school district will pay millions of dollars to settle claims and lawsuits filed by students and families from an elementary school where a third-grade teacher was accused of spoon-feeding children semen in what he called "tasting games," lawyers in the cases said Tuesday.
 
District officials did not reveal the total amount of the settlement, but attorney Raymond Boucher, who represents several Miramonte Elementary School students, said each claimant will receive $470,000.
 
District General Counsel David Holmquist said the settlement covers 58 of the 191 claims and lawsuits filed by students and parents against the district after the January 2012 arrest of former third-grade teacher Mark Berndt on 23 charges of lewd behavior spanning five years at Miramonte.
 ::snipping2::

A few of the cases involved another Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, who was charged with lewd acts on a child in a case involving a second-grader that authorities said was fondled in class in 2009.
 ::snipping2::
The 58 people involved in the settlement are all students, he said

Springer has also pleaded not guilty
more at link
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/LA-schools-settle-teacher-lewdness-claims-4349214.php

[MuffyBee]

http://**/social-affairs/20130814/lausd-begins-30-million-payout-in-miramonte-sex-scandal-claims
LAUSD begins $30 million payout in Miramonte sex-scandal claims
August 17, 2013

Los Angeles Unified has begun funding about $30 million in settlements reached with 63 children who claimed they were molested by two teachers at Miramonte Elementary School, officials said Wednesday.

The school district had been counting on insurance to cover most of the costs, but one of its carriers filed suit in June in an effort to avoid paying the settlement and asked a half dozen other companies to follow suit. As a result, LAUSD will pay the entire amount now with the hope of being reimbursed for some of the total, spokesman Sean Rossall said.

This is the first disbursal of monies for the settlements reached with the families of youngsters who said they were harmed by teachers Mark Berndt or Martin Springer, who each are facing multiple charges of criminal molestation. About 60 additional cases remain unresolved.

“Our biggest focus is to resolve these cases in a way that respects the children’s health and educational needs,” Rossall said. “We’re glad to have resolved and started funding these settlements and hope to resolve the rest.

“Despite reaching fiscal resolution on these cases, we welcome the opportunity to continue ensuring that we’re protecting students and ensuring their safety.”
 
Berndt, 62, of Torrance has pleaded not guilty to charges of committing lewd acts against 23 children. He is accused of blindfolding students at the South Los Angeles campus and leading them in a bizarre “tasting game” in which he fed them spoonfuls of his semen and semen-tainted cookies. He remains jailed in lieu of $23 million bail, pending a preliminary hearing.

Springer, 51, has been ordered to stand trial on charges of committing lewd acts against three Miramonte students. He has pleaded not guilty.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/231981651.html
Teacher to plead no contest in lewd 'tasting game'
November 14, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles elementary school teacher charged with blindfolding students and spoon-feeding them cookies laced with his semen has agreed to plead no contest to all charges, an attorney for some of the victims said Thursday.
Mark Berndt plans to enter the legal equivalent of guilty pleas to 23 charges at a hearing Friday, according to John Manly, an attorney who represents 30 Miramonte Elementary School students and their parents. Manly said he was notified of the plea by prosecutors.
The plea agreement, first reported by the Daily News of Los Angeles, calls for Berndt to be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
 
Another Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, is charged with lewd acts on a child in a case involving a second-grader that authorities said was fondled in class in 2009. Springer is awaiting trial

[Sister]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/231981651.html
Teacher to plead no contest in lewd 'tasting game'
November 14, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles elementary school teacher charged with blindfolding students and spoon-feeding them cookies laced with his semen has agreed to plead no contest to all charges, an attorney for some of the victims said Thursday.
Mark Berndt plans to enter the legal equivalent of guilty pleas to 23 charges at a hearing Friday, according to John Manly, an attorney who represents 30 Miramonte Elementary School students and their parents. Manly said he was notified of the plea by prosecutors.
The plea agreement, first reported by the Daily News of Los Angeles, calls for Berndt to be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
 
Another Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, is charged with lewd acts on a child in a case involving a second-grader that authorities said was fondled in class in 2009. Springer is awaiting trial

I understand this will be easier on the children, but 25 years doesn't seem like enough.  What a POS this man is!