31 Counts : Not-Guilty Plea Entered in Sex Case

A former physical education teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of sexually molesting 17 children from a private Corona del Mar grade school and his Irvine neighborhood.

Alan Thomas Rigby, 40, of Irvine entered the plea during his arraignment at Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach. He faces 31 counts, including 18 felony counts of lewd acts with a minor under the age of 14, and 13 misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting children, or indecent exposure.

Judge Selim S. Franklin set Rigby’s preliminary hearing for Dec. 11.

Rigby showed little emotion during his court appearance, but his wife Cathy, who is 8 1/2 months pregnant, sobbed gently during the proceedings. About 10 family members and friends sat near her on one side of the courtroom.

Parents of Alleged Victims

On the other side sat about 35 parents and friends of the alleged victims. Three of the alleged victims were girls between the ages of 13 and 15. The rest were boys ages 10 to 14, according to authorities. Thirteen of them were students at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar, where Rigby was a physical education teacher and track coach during the 1986-87 school year.

The charges against Rigby involve more victims than any child molestation case ever filed in Orange County, prosecutors said.

The hourlong hearing mostly involved an unsuccessful bid by Rigby’s attorney, William G. Kelley, to have his client’s $200,000 bail reduced. Kelley said it should be cut to $50,000 so that Rigby could be released from jail.

“Mr. Rigby’s wife is 8 1/2 months pregnant, and he has a young son,” Kelley told Judge Franklin. “He needs to be free to help support his family. When his wife gives birth, she will be without the ability to earn income for some time.”

Kelley, a deputy public defender, said the $50,000 bail would be enough to assure that Rigby would show up for trial. “He is not going to abandon his wife of 10 years or his 8-year-old son,” Kelley said. “He has lived in the Orange County area for 13 years, so it is unlikely that he would try to flee someplace else.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum countered that bail should remain at $200,000. “The defendant has no substantial assets, no home, and is not employed,” he said.

Rosenblum argued that Rigby is a habitual child molester who might assault other children while out on bail. “From 1974 on he has molested children,” Rosenblum said. “He has been arrested five times, with four of them being for sexual offenses against children.”

In 1974, an intoxicated Rigby was arrested for sexual misconduct with two 13-year-old girls who had been drinking, Rosenblum said. Rigby pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of the two girls, Rosenblum added.

In 1979, Rigby was arrested in Laguna Niguel on another child-molestation charge, Rosenblum said. Rigby pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace and was placed on one year’s probation.

In 1986, Rigby was accused of molesting children in his Irvine neighborhood, Rosenblum said. However, the district attorney’s office decided not to prosecute the case “due to the unlikelihood of conviction,” court records show.

Rigby’s most recent arrest on child molestation charges occurred in September, Rosenblum said.

Waving a magazine, Rosenblum told the court: “During a search of Rigby’s house, we found this pedophile journal that in explicit details talks about sex between children and adults. Here is a man out of control, who, if convicted, faces up to 59 years in state prison.”

Judge Franklin ruled that bail should remain at $200,000. “This is the kind of offense that people tend to commit if they are not in control,” Franklin said. “They commit these acts over a long period of time, and they tend not to stop even when they are caught.”

However, Franklin ordered that arrangements be made for Rigby to be with his wife during the delivery of their second child.