Teacher Is Charged With Sexual Assault : Crime: The Dana Hills science instructor is accused of molesting a 17-year-old female student during a field trip in October.

A Dana Hills High School teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old female student during a science field trip in Inyo County, authorities said Tuesday.

Michael W. Gaskins, 43, has been charged with one felony count of sexual battery and one misdemeanor count of annoying a child under 18, according to a criminal complaint filed Nov. 16 in Inyo County Superior Court.

Gaskins has been suspended with pay since Oct. 25, when the Inyo County district attorney’s office notified Capistrano Unified School District authorities that it was investigating a report of a sexual assault involving Gaskins and a Dana Hills student.

The incident is alleged to have taken place on Oct. 21.

“I don’t know what I can say . . . . I’m kind of blown away,” Gaskins said after learning from a reporter that charges had been filed in the case. “It’s been a tough time since this alleged incident.”

“There was a real misunderstanding, (but) obviously the person making the complaint doesn’t feel that way,” said Gaskins, who said he has been a science teacher with the district for 17 years.

Gaskins said that he has been involved in more than a hundred field trips during his career and that he has never before been accused of wrongdoing.

“In the U.S.A., a person is innocent until proven guilty,” he said, declining to discuss the case against him further.

The assault is alleged to have occurred during the 18th annual Earth Science Field Study at Serales Lake in Last Chance Canyon in Inyo County, school authorities said. The purpose of the five-day geology outing is to give students an opportunity to study rocks and land formations.

According to the complaint, Gaskins “did willfully and unlawfully touch an intimate part” of the victim while she was “unlawfully restrained by the defendant” for the “purpose of arousal, gratification and abuse.”

Inyo County Deputy Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Corpora declined to elaborate on the case or disclose any other details of the investigation.

If convicted of the felony charge, Gaskins could serve up to four years in state prison.

Capistrano Unified Supt. Jerome Thornsley declined to discuss Gaskins’ suspension, saying that it is a personnel matter.

Dana Hills High School Principal John E. Smart, who also declined to discuss the case, said Gaskins has been a “very active member of the science department. . . . He did a very good job as a teacher and seemed to be well-liked among the students.”

Jacqueline Cerra, spokeswoman for the school district, said the district “began to prepare material to take to the (school) board at its next closed-door session on Dec. 3, at which time they will determine what kind of future action will be taken.”

Cerra said the state education code “is quite clear on what a school district is supposed to do” in such cases.

It might be that, under certain sections of the code, the board could adopt “a mandatory leave without pay for the employee pending legal resolution of the matter,” Cerra said.

“If the charges are dropped or changed, it does not preclude the board from continuing to pursue the matter administratively,” she added.

Gaskins is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 17 in Inyo County.

Times staff writer Tony Marcano contributed to this report.