Pasadena : Trial Set in Molestation Case
A teacher at a private Pasadena school for children with learning disabilities has been ordered to stand trial on charges of sexually molesting three students at his home.
Authorities allege that James Spencer Mercer of Altadena molested three teen-age boys who attended the Marianne Frostig Center for Education Therapy, where he has taught for the last 10 years.
Mercer, 43, was bound over for trial on nine counts of oral copulation with a person under age 16 and six counts of committing lewd acts with a child age 15 or older by Pasadena Municipal Judge Elvira R. Mitchell at a preliminary hearing last week. Held in lieu of $75,000 bail, Mercer, who has pleaded not guilty, was ordered to appear in Pasadena Superior Court on July 30.
Conviction on all counts could result in a maximum term of 22 years in state prison.
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