P.V. Teacher Accused of Using Religious Guise to Seduce Student, 16

Authorities have filed four sex charges against a Palos Verdes High School teacher, alleging that he used his influence as a religious mentor to have sex with a 16-year-old student.

Frederick Lewis Crook, 44, has been charged with two counts of oral copulation and two counts of unlawful sex with a minor. The charges stem from encounters with the teen-age girl in his classroom and in an El Segundo hotel room, according to the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department.

Crook was arrested Feb. 26 and freed that night on $25,000 bail pending his arraignment March 29 in South Bay Municipal Court.

Submitted as evidence in the case are letters that police said Crook sent to the girl last month as she tried to break off the relationship.

In the letters, the veteran history and government teacher wrote the girl that their relationship was inspired by God, saying: “I give you my Covenant love. . . . This is the manifestation of God’s promise to you. . . . You are like a tender flower in the gentle morning sun, preparing to open and bloom.”

Admitted Liaison

Crook declined to comment, but, according to police reports, he admitted his liaison with the girl to police Sgt. Tom Vanderpool, saying: “I had a weakness for a few days. I made a foolish mistake for a few days. . . . I have no one to be close to. I need someone, and I made a mistake.”

He also said he will plead no contest to the charges in order to protect the girl from the stress of a trial, according to the reports.

A Torrance resident who has taught at Palos Verdes High for 20 years, Crook was placed on unpaid leave last week pending the outcome of the case. He has three children and is separated from his wife.

Crook was elected by teachers to serve this year as president of the Faculty Assembly and was popular with students, according to a fellow teacher. He sometimes met after class with students to discuss philosophy and religion.

“We were absolutely overwhelmed by it,” said history teacher Pat Costantini. “We were just taken aback. He was a very popular member of the staff.”

The 16-year-old was having personal problems last fall, according to a police report, when she sought out Crook for advice. He “became her teacher in Christianity and taught her about the Bible, and the victim developed a lot of faith in (Crook),” the report stated.

They met at lunch and after school and talked on the phone, according to the reports, although Crook called less frequently after the girl’s parents protested.

Sent by God

After that, police reports say, the relationship became sexual. According to the reports, the girl said Crook told her that she had been sent to him by God, that her body had been occupied by his ex-girlfriend’s spirit, and that when he touched the student, it was like he was touching the other woman, whom he missed.

Crook, however, told police that it was the 16-year-old who first suggested that the ex-girlfriend’s spirit had entered her.

Sexual encounters between Crook and the 16-year-old began last month after school in Crook’s classroom, the police reports said. They continued one Saturday at an El Segundo hotel and ended on Feb. 13 when the two met about midnight in Crook’s parked car, according to the reports.

The girl tried to break off the relationship after that, but Crook persisted, according to the reports.

The case file also contains letters from the girl saying that she had to end her relationship with Crook and instead would rely on God. “My faith in you as leader has shifted to faith only in my Lord,” she wrote.

In a final letter, Crook allegedly told the girl that she had not prayed and meditated enough over her decision to leave him. The letter was signed, “Eternally Your Devoted Man, Fred.”