Two More Elementary School Pupils Claim They Were Molested by Teacher

Two more Knox Elementary School children said Friday that they had been molested by Ernest Booker Brown, the Southeast San Diego school teacher arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting at least two 12-year-old female students, San Diego police reported.

The latest children, whose ages and sex were not disclosed, were interviewed Friday at the multi-track school by police detectives, who still are trying to determine if any more pupils at the school were molested, Sgt. Fred Moeller said.

“We are trying to locate victims in the next few weeks by encouraging parents to call the child-abuse section if they think their children have been molested,” he said.

“We don’t know if we’ll find more children. Some students are off-track, meaning they are on vacation, and we can’t contact everyone in one central location,” Moeller said.

“We have media coverage through the local papers, television and radio and hope to get to victims that may not have come forward. Our perspective is to identify as many victims as possible.”

About 25 alarmed parents who called the school Friday were assured that Brown, facing 70 counts of molestation charges spanning at least two years, was not on campus. Also, a team of four crisis counselors, who spoke to six fourth- and fifth-grade classes, were at the school to help the students and teachers reduce any trauma, said Tina Dyer, general counsel for San Diego city schools.

“When counselors go into a situation like this, they are there to listen to the staff and kids who are fearful and wonder what’s going on and help them to deal with their feelings,” said Carolyn Morris, the district’s guidance services department director.

“They are available to talk with individuals and help return things to normal. In this case it was a very popular teacher. We find in a situation like this, it affects male teachers more so. They feel like, ‘Gee, maybe I shouldn’t be as close to the girls.’ That’s their immediate reaction,” she said.

By law, the school district is required to suspend a teacher criminally charged by the district attorney, Dyer said. If Brown is convicted, he will be fired, and his teaching credential will be revoked.

The San Diego County district attorney’s office said Brown will be arraigned Monday.