Second Teacher Faces Molestation Trial : Photos of Nude Boys Led to His 1984 Arrest, Abuse Charges

The Los Angeles Unified School District, which has been under fire this summer because officials failed to report molestation accusations against an elementary school teacher, on Monday acknowledged that another teacher has been charged with molesting students and is facing trial.

Richard Howard Simons, 33, who taught for five years at Rowan Avenue Elementary School on the city’s Eastside, has been charged with 12 counts of child molestation. Police on Monday said Simons was arrested in 1984 after an employee in a Westside photo processing store reported to them that film Simons had left there for development contained shots of nude boys.

Simons is charged with molesting four boys while they were alone with him in his classroom or at his West Los Angeles apartment, the police added. The incidents occurred between 1982 and 1984, according to police reports. Simons, who has pleaded not guilty, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 7.

School district officials said no allegations of sexual molestation or child abuse were ever made against Simons before his arrest, and therefore, they did not want to compare his case with that of Terry Bartholome, a former teacher at the 68th Street School.

Bartholome, 48, reportedly molested at least 15 girls while he was a third-grade teacher at 68th Street, according to authorities. Although the first molestation allegation against Bartholome was reported to the principal and passed on to regional administrators in 1983, it was not until a year later that the Los Angeles Police Department was notified of the accusations.

State law and school district policy both require that teachers, principals or any “child custodian” who has a “reasonable suspicion” that a child has been physically or sexually abused immediately report their suspicions to authorities.

“This (the Simons case) in no way is similar to the 68th Street School case,” district spokesman Bill Rivera said Monday. He added that no administrators were ever informed of any molestation charges against Simons because none was ever made by students or parents.

Rowan Principal H. F. (Bud) Bertrand said he learned of the accusations against Simons “after he was arrested and the police arrived in my office.”

The principal said Simons was relieved of duties but did not resign from the district until three weeks ago.

Bertrand said that before he became principal in 1983, a curriculum coordinator had told his predecessor of her concerns about Simons staying in his classroom with a lone male student during lunch periods and recesses.

However, Bertrand said, the coordinator never made any molestation allegations against Simons.

That fall, Bertrand said, he also heard concerns about Simons from Adriana Moreno, a leader of the school’s parent organization and a volunteer who worked at the school. Bertrand and Moreno both agreed Monday that no molestation allegations were ever raised.

“I told the principal that the gentleman’s (Simons’) conduct might be misinterpreted,” Moreno said. “Taking the children to the ballgames, driving them home from school, giving them gifts--it might not look right to some people. I never said anything about molestation.”

Bertrand said that after his conversation with Moreno, he contacted his supervisor at the local region headquarters and called downtown district headquarters to discuss her comments.

Ruben Zacarias, superintendent of the region that includes most of the Eastside, said: “There were no allegations of molestation, so there was no action to be taken.”