High school teacher pleads not guilty Marina...

High school teacher pleads not guilty

Marina High School music teacher Victor Rodriguez, accused of

allegedly molesting six female students, pleaded not guilty at his

arraignment Aug. 25, said Mark Macaulay of the Orange County District

Attorney’s Office.

Rodriguez, 49, of Huntington Beach, is accused of sexually

assaulting six girls between the ages of 14 and 17 during one-on-one

singing lessons at the school.

Authorities allege the molestations took place from February 2003

to December 2004 in the high school’s music room. In each case, he is

accused of bringing the student into a closed room to assess her

voice, allegedly putting his hands under her shirt to show the

location of her diaphragm.

The District Attorney’s office alleges that school administration

officials learned about at least one of the incidents, formally

warned Rodriguez in March of 2003 for using the so-called diaphragm

technique and instructed him to never use it again.

Later in 2004, another student reported being inappropriately

touched by Rodriguez.

Rodriguez taught jazz ensemble, musicianship and marching band,

according to the Marina High School website. He is married, with two

children. School officials were not available for comment Wednesday.

Hess said that Rodriguez had been suspended from teaching at the high

school.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30 in West Justice

Center.

Gunman robs electronics store

A man robbed a Huntington Beach Circuit City store in the 7800

block of Edinger Avenue at gunpoint and fled with an unknown amount

of cash late Monday, police said.

The man approached employees at the customer service window inside

the store and demanded money while displaying a handgun, police said.

No one was injured.

The man left the store through the main entrance and was not seen

entering a vehicle, police said.

The suspect is described as a white man between 50 and 60 years

old; 5 feet, 10 inches tall; weighing 190 pounds; with white hair and

a mustache. He was reportedly wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and a

black baseball hat.