Public safety instructor arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting teen student
A public safety instructor is expected to appear in court Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Hoover High student, police said.
Delvon Jackson was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of two counts of sexual assault on the girl, who reported the incident to school officials the day before, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Few details were released due to an ongoing investigation into the assault, which Lorenz said occurred on campus.
“Our concern is for the safety of the kids at the school,” Lorenz said. “We are looking out for the best interest of the victim and are investigating this allegation.”
Jackson was an instructor with the Los Angeles County Regional Occupation Program and was contracted to work as an hourly employee in Hoover High’s Public Safety Academy, which is a three-year program that prepares students for careers in fire service or law enforcement.
“During the course of the investigation, the employee will not be in a school setting,” Richard Sheehan, superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District, said in a police statement. “The district will move expeditiously for termination should there be any evidence of wrongdoing.”
Once school administrators found out about the alleged assault, they called a school resource officer and police detectives, who immediately began investigating the allegations.
School officials quickly removed Jackson from having any contact with students.
Investigators do not believe there are any other victims, police said. Jackson’s bail is set at $200,000.
“The No. 1 priority of the Glendale Unified School District is the safety and education of all our students,” Sheehan said in the statement.
Jackson was known as the academy’s lead police instructor as well as working with the security department.
He reportedly told students and school staff that he was former officer with the Inglewood Police Department, even though he never worked as an officer there or at any other law enforcement agency, Lorenz said.
Instead, he was an hourly, part-time parking control employee with city of Inglewood, he added.
Jackson, Lorenz said, “gained the trust and respect of those students.” He added that Jackson was a “fraud,” who had a persona of being the “greatest guy on campus.”
In an interview with the high school’s newspaper, The Tornado Times, Jackson said he joined the Inglewood Police Department in 2004 and taught weapons of mass destruction and ethics.
Calls to Inglewood Police Department were not immediately returned.
Glendale police said Jackson separated from his employment with Inglewood in 2009.
School employees undergo background checks and are fingerprinted before being hired with the district, Sheehan said. The district also provides training to school administrators on executing thorough investigations when allegations are reported, he added.
Jackson was previously convicted of driving without a valid driver’s license, according to records with Los Angeles County Superior Court.
He was also previously arrested on suspicion of battery, but the charge was eventually dismissed, according to court records.
-- Veronica Rocha, veronica.rocha@latimes.com
Follow on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA
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