Substitute faces new charges

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- A 35-year-old substitute teacher, who made bail

after being arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting female

students, is now facing a second arrest warrant as more victims have

come forward, officials said Friday.

Todd Jerome Haluch of Huntington Beach, who taught at Corona del

Mar High School and TeWinkle Middle School between 1999 and 2000, was

arrested on Sept. 13 on 13 counts of felony sexual assault. The new

charges reflect four felony counts of sexual acts with a female

juvenile and one count of witness intimidation, Newport Beach Police

Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

As of Friday, Haluch was not in police custody. Shulman said other

witnesses have told detectives that Haluch was aware of the arrest

warrant and was hiding from the police.

“The suspect is considered to be a fugitive at this time,” he

said.

Shulman said the second warrant relates to one female victim who

was under 18 years of age when the incident occurred.

“Detectives are still interviewing other possible victims,” he

said.

The investigation that ended earlier with Haluch’s arrest began

when a therapist treating a victim reported it to the police.

Therapists are “mandated reporters” by law, which requires them to

report sexual assaults involving minors to the police.

Shulman said Newport Beach attorney Anthony Sessa was told of the

warrant on Thursday morning but failed to turn in his client.

Sessa said late Friday afternoon that he was no longer Haluch’s

attorney.

“I don’t know where [Haluch] is,” he said. “I’ve only been talking

to him over the phone.”

Police said Haluch had worked as a substitute teacher in the

Newport-Mesa, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Long Beach and Los

Alamitos school districts though he has not taught in any school

district this fall.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Robert Barbot declined

to comment on the case because of the ongoing police investigation.

“Any time these things happen in our schools, we’re obviously

alarmed,” he said. “We’re really glad that the police are taking a

tough stand in this case.”

Barbot said there will not be any special counseling at the

schools affected by this case.

“But we always encourage students to come forward and report these

incidents,” he said. “We educate them about these issues at a very

young age.”

Police are asking other victims or those with information to call

Newport Beach Police Det. John Hougan at (949) 644-3790.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.