Teacher Faces 5 Molest Charges

An ROTC instructor was held to answer Friday in South Bay Municipal Court on five of seven charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in his Redondo Union High School program.

Retired Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Allen Roth, 64, of Torrance, was ordered to appear March 1 in Torrance Superior Court for arraignment on four counts of oral copulation with a minor and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Another count of oral copulation and a charge of lewd conduct with a child were dismissed during Roth’s preliminary hearing.

Roth, who has pleaded innocent to the charges, was arrested in December after the girl told school officials that he had repeatedly molested her over a three-year period.

Since the charges were made, Roth has been on an unpaid leave of absence from the school district, where he spent six years with the ROTC program. Currently, he is free on $30,000 bail.

“I was a little disappointed more counts were not dismissed . . . but I can tell you there will be further motions to dismiss” charges when the case is heard in Superior Court, Roth’s attorney, Carl Capazzola, said Friday.