L.A teacher charged with lewd acts on 23 children
(BDCi) – A Miramonte Elementary School teacher who taught for three decades in South L.A. told students they would be playing “a game” before tying them up and feeding them from a spoon possibly containing semen, sources said.
Mark Berndt, 61, who is charged with lewd acts on 23 children and was taken into custody Monday, told the children the spoon contained something sugary and sweet, but authorities said they believed the substance was his semen., said the sources, who is declined to comment on the record because the investigation is ongoing.
Berndt was fired in March and was being held Tuesday on $2.3-million bail.
Berndt’s arrest capped a nearly yearlong investigation by the L.A> County sheriff’s special victims unit.
The 23 alleged victims are both girls and boys and ranged in age from 7 to 10. The crimes occurred between 2008 and 2010.
By: Natania Levine Courtesy: latimes.com Photo: latimes.com 31 January 2012
11:12 a.m P.S.T