Local News in Brief : Teacher Accused of Molesting 5 Girls
A Maywood first-grade teacher has been charged with 14 felony counts of molestation after five girls complained that he fondled them during class recesses.
Arraignment is scheduled today for Stanley Komae, 37, who was reassigned to a desk job from his teaching position at Heliotrope Avenue Elementary School following his arrest Oct. 3. Komae, a Norwalk resident who has taught at Heliotrope for four years, is free on $20,000 bond.
“He had this game he called the touching game,” Maywood Police Detective Ed Lozano said. “He would send the boys out to recess. He would touch these girls one at a time at his desk.”
Komae will plead innocent to the charges when he is arraigned at Huntington Park Municipal Court, according to his attorney, Gary M. Pohlson, who declined further comment.
Los Angeles Unified School District psychologists began counseling the students this week, Heliotrope Principal Katherine Swank said.
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