Knox Elementary Teacher Is Arrested on Suspicion of Molesting 2 Girl Pupils

A San Diego elementary school teacher was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting two 12-year-old girls at Knox Elementary School in Southeast San Diego, and police said they suspect there may be more victims.

Ernest Booker Brown, 47, was booked into County Jail downtown, where he was being held on $600,000 bail in connection with 20 counts of molesting children, 20 counts of penetration with a foreign object and 30 counts of oral copulation with a child under 14, police Sgt. Tim Smith said.

Brown, who has taught fourth- and fifth-graders at the year-round, multi-track school since 1986, was called in to a small office at the school, where he was arrested about 1:30 p.m., Principal Myrtle Faucette said, adding that Brown has been suspended and restricted from entering a classroom while the case is pending.

Detectives opened the investigation last week after a student reported she had been sexually abused. Police spokesman Bill Robinson said the alleged molestations occurred in Brown’s classroom, car and home over the past two years.

Brown was not questioned until Thursday afternoon and continued teaching classes and directing the school chorus this week.

“You can’t go in there and make an arrest just because of something said,” Robinson said. “Detectives had to talk to the victims before we could go in and place him under arrest.”

Police said they encouraged any student who was a victim to speak to authorities.

Brown, who is unmarried and lives in the 4000 block of Messina Drive, less than a mile from the school, kept a professional demeanor at the school, always dressing in a suit and tie, Faucette said.

Respected by students and teachers alike, he appeared devoted to the chorus, coming back on his own time during his three-week vacation to direct rehearsals, she said.

“Generally speaking, he was well-liked by the students and the parents,” Faucette said, adding that Brown was considered a good teacher. “Staff members and I are shocked.”

Before joining Knox in 1986, Brown taught in Georgia and Florida, Faucette said. His name was on an approved list provided to the school by the district’s personnel office, she said. Background checks are routinely performed on all teachers applying for jobs in the district, and Brown’s record must have been clean for him to have made it to the list, she said.

Crisis counselors were scheduled to arrive at the school today to talk to Brown’s students and staff members about the incident. Parents who feel their children need more than one day of counseling will be referred to a psychologist, Faucette said.

At least one of Brown’s current students was questioned by police, but it was not known whether she might have been sexually abused, Faucette said.

“The difficult thing now is going to be trying to console students and staff members through this difficult period and trying to get things back to normal so our instructional program can continue,” Faucette said.

Parents who suspect their children have been abused should contact police Sgt. Fred Moeller at 531-2260.

Times staff writer Joe McGarvey contributed to this story.