Talbert teacher set to be arraigned

A former teacher at Talbert Middle School is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges that he molested a student, officials said.

Daniel Axtell, 36, of Santa Ana, was arrested and charged May 3 with molesting a 14-year-old female student. Prosecutors say he gained her trust and molested her over a two-month period in 2005, but she only recently came forward.

Axtell has been charged with six counts of felony lewd acts on a student, one count of felony penetration with a foreign object of a minor, and one count of felony first degree burglary, which in this case involves entering a building with intent to commit a felony.

Axtell is accused of grooming the student to gain her confidence, gaining her parents’ trust by meeting them and committing multiple lewd acts with the victim in hotel rooms and his car, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

“A junior high teacher meets a girl who’s a student,” said district attorney spokeswoman Susan Schroeder. “He took advantage of her trust.”

School administrators did not return calls for comment. An employee at the school who answered the phone but would not give her name said Axtell no longer works there.

He is not listed among the faculty on the school’s website.

Axtell is set to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

Huntington Beach police are still investigating Axtell, and anyone who believes they have been victimized by him is asked to call Det. Cathy Meza at (714) 536-5970.