Top School Official Faces Charges of Failure to Report Molest Suspicion

A senior Los Angeles school official was charged Wednesday with failing to tell police last year that a third-grade teacher was suspected of molesting girls in his class.

Stuart Bernstein, 48, could face up to two years in Los Angeles County Jail and fines of up to $4,000 if he is convicted of the four misdemeanor counts lodged against him, Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Municipal Court, Bernstein was charged with violating a 1981 state law that requires anyone who suspects child abuse to report it to authorities by telephone immediately and in writing within 36 hours.

“We have people who are entrusted with the guardianship of our children during school hours,” Hahn told a press conference. “It seems that their duty ought to be first . . . to protect the children, and not to protect the school employees.”

First Prosecution

Bernstein, chief administrator of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Region C, is the first person prosecuted by the city attorney for failing to obey the reporting law, said Deputy City Atty. Mary E. House, who filed the complaint.

Hahn said that Bernstein was told Dec. 3 that Terry E. Bartholome, 48, a teacher at 68th Street School, was suspected of molesting students, but that Bernstein failed to notify police for two weeks.

The administrator, who has been reassigned to duties in the district’s central office, will be arraigned Dec. 18 in Municipal Court. Bartholome, who was fired last February, is awaiting trial in Los Angeles Superior Court on 45 molestation charges.

Bernstein’s attorney, Harold Greenberg, charged Wednesday that his client is being singled out for prosecution, even though it was Bernstein who finally took action to get Bartholome out of the classroom. He also suggested that Hahn is prosecuting Bernstein to attract favorable publicity.

“We feel that it’s a cover-up and that they’re setting Bernstein up as a scapegoat,” Greenberg said. “We will fight this.”

Greenberg declined to name those he believes are trying to saddle Bernstein with the blame for the district’s handling of Bartholome.

He noted, however, that the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has granted immunity from prosecution to three district employees who are expected to testify against Bernstein. Among the three are the school principal and Bernstein’s predecessor as regional administrator, who was also told of complaints against Bartholome. The Times independently confirmed that the three have been granted immunity.

Associate Schools Supt. Jerry Halverson called Bernstein an “experienced, valued employee,” and added, “We don’t believe he’s guilty of the charges. . . . If there were any wrong actions, they were inadvertent. (Bernstein) . . . only had the interests of the youngsters at heart.”