Substitute arrested on sexual assault charges

Deepa Bharath

A 35-year-old substitute teacher was arrested for the second time

Monday after he walked into a courtroom to respond to additional

charges of indulging in sexual acts with several female students.

Todd Jerome Haluch of Huntington Beach had posted a $250,000 bail

after he was arrested on Sept. 13 on 13 counts of felony sexual

assault. A second warrant issued last week reflected four felony

counts of sexual acts with a female juvenile and one count of witness

intimidation, officials said.

Police have been looking for Haluch, who taught in the

Newport-Mesa Unified, Huntington Beach City, Garden Grove and Los

Alamitos school districts in the last few years, since Friday.

Superior Court Judge Craig Robison ordered Haluch not to contact any

of the girls he is accused of abusing. Bail for the additional

charges is set at $250,000.

He could face life in prison if convicted of all the charges,

which range from lewd conduct to sexual intercourse with female

students, some younger than 16 and others younger than 14, Deputy

Dist. Atty. Beth Costello said.

“There are many more victims out there,” she said. “We want them

to come forward so they can get the help and counseling they need.”

The reported incidents happened over a four-year period, between

1997 and 2001, Costello said.

So far five victims have come forward, she said.

“The defendant was in a position of trust,” she said. “And, with

the difference in age -- the defendant is 35, and the girls are

approximately early teens to mid-teens -- that’s someone who is going

to have a lot of mental control, a lot of power over these girls.

That’s why the prosecution feels that this is a particularly

egregious case.”

Costello said police are still investigating whether some of the

incidents took place on any of the campuses where Haluch taught.

Haluch’s attorney Rudolph Lowenstein was disappointed

that the judge set a fresh bail amount.

“If these additional charges had been filed earlier, the bail

would have still remained $250,000,” he said. Lowenstein said his

client should have been released on the first $250,000 he paid for

the first warrant.

Calling it a “serious case,” Lowenstein said his client will plead

“not guilty” to the charges.