Jury selection to begin in trial of former teacher
Bryce Alderton
Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of Jason
Abhyankar, a former teacher in the Ocean View School District who was
arrested in April 2000 on four felony counts of child molestation.
Abhyankar, 27, also faces 19 counts of lewd acts upon a child and
could be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Huntington Beach resident was a fourth-grade teacher at Village
View Elementary School from September 1997 to June 1999 when he resigned
without giving a reason.
Abhyankar most recently worked for three months at Portola Hills
Elementary School in Trabuco Canyon in the fall of 1999.
A boy in Abhyankar’s Portola Hills class allegedly complained about
improper behavior by the teacher and the boy’s parents soon notified the
school and police.
Police conducted an investigation and found other boys at Portola
Hills and Village View with similar complaints.
Parents of one boy from Ocean View and two from Portola Hills sued the
Ocean View, Saddleback and Newhall school districts in April, contending
that Ocean View school officials wrote positive recommendation letters
for Abhyankar even though they suspected him of acting improperly.
The civil lawsuit is still in its initial stages and seeks $60 million
in damages.
“We have begun taking depositions from the plaintiffs and in turn will
give them depositions when the time comes,” said Gary Gibeaut, defense
attorney for the Ocean View School District, who wouldn’t comment further
on the allegations.
The suit claims the two districts should not have given
recommendations for a teacher they had problems with, and that Saddleback
should have investigated Abhyankar’s background more thoroughly.
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