ROTC Chief Held on Molestation Charges

The interim commander of the South Bay Union High School District’s award-winning Junior ROTC program was arrested Wednesday morning on charges that, for the past three years, he has been sexually assaulting a teen-age student at Redondo Union High School.

Retired Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Allen Roth, 64, of Torrance was arrested without incident at the school and was being held at Redondo Beach City Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail, said Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Mike Minard.

School and military officials who have worked with Roth expressed surprise and regret after the arrest.

“He’s a great trooper and he’s helped a lot of kids,” said district Trustee Tom Downs. “What exactly happened we have to wait and see, but the man was a real Marine.”

Roth is expected to be arraigned Friday in South Bay Municipal Court on charges of rape, oral copulation and unlawful sexual intercourse, Minard said.

Minard would not say whether the student, a 17-year-old girl, had been a student of Roth, who for the past year has instructed about 60 Redondo Union students and about 30 Mira Costa High School students in daily ROTC classes.

Redondo Union Principal Jack Clement said the district had been very proud of the 10-year-old leadership program, which has earned the high school numerous awards from the U.S. Marine Corps. The corps operates Junior ROTC jointly with school districts throughout the nation and sponsors regular awards for drill team performance and other maneuvers.

Roth has been with the program for about six years, according to district Supt. Walter Hale.

Spokesmen for the Marines’ 12th District office in San Francisco were unavailable for comment on the arrest, but a recruiter at the Redondo Beach office of the corps expressed surprise at the news and described Roth as “a good man.”