Educator Accused of Not Reporting Alleged Molesting

The former principal of a South-Central Los Angeles elementary school was charged by the city attorney’s office Tuesday with failing to report allegations that a 7-year-old girl had been sexually molested in her home.

Roy L. Brown, who was principal of Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School when the alleged incident occurred last Nov. 20, was charged with two misdemeanor counts under a state law requiring that anyone who knows or should have known of possible child abuse must report it to police by telephone immediately and to a child protection agency in writing within 36 hours.

Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said Felipe Villarreal, 18, was arrested on Jan. 15 by Los Angeles police and booked on suspicion of sodomy with a child. Villarreal is not an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Brown, 57, who has been reassigned to an administrative position in the school district office, is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 20 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Second Incident

He is the second Los Angeles city schools administrator charged with failure to report alleged child molestation within the past 10 weeks.

Stuart Bernstein, 48, who was chief administrator of the district’s Region C, was charged on Nov. 27 with failing to tell police that third-grade teacher Terry Bartholome was suspected of molesting girls in his class.

Bernstein faces a pretrial hearing at 9:30 a.m. today in Municipal Court on four misdemeanor counts.

The Brown case, city attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said, initially was reviewed by the district attorney’s office, which subsequently referred it to the city attorney. Hahn said his staff was still looking at the evidence “to determine what course of action to take in regard to Villarreal.”

‘Failed to Notify’

Brown was charged, Hahn said, because it was felt that he became aware of the alleged molestation after the child told the school nurse, but “failed to notify the proper authorities.”

Hahn added that police were not notified of the allegations until Jan. 14, when they were called by the Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School psychologist after the little girl’s mother went to the school to discuss her daughter’s emotional problems.

If convicted on both counts, Brown could face up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $2,000.

He was not available for comment Tuesday.