Educator Turns Himself In on Charges of Sex Crimes : Courts: Sunny Hills High teacher is freed on own recognizance pending arraignment. Female students claim they were molested or harassed.

A veteran Orange County educator surrendered to authorities Thursday after his return from a Caribbean vacation to face charges that he molested a female student and sexually harassed four others.

Sunny Hills High School teacher George Melvin Fairchild, 52, was released on his own recognizance by Judge Roger B. Robbins after an early-morning appearance in North Orange County Municipal Court. The judge cited Fairchild’s longtime ties to the county, where he has lived and worked for more than a quarter century.

Fairchild’s attorney, Tom Goethals, said outside court that his client is innocent.

Fairchild was charged July 13 with eight counts of felony lewd and lascivious conduct with a 15-year-old student, two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery on two students over the age of 16 and five counts of misdemeanor child annoyance against five students.

The felony charge stems from a girl’s complaint that Fairchild touched her breasts and squeezed her torso on several occasions after class. Child annoyance refers to using sexually explicit language.

Fairchild could face more than 7 years in prison if convicted of all the felony charges, a prosecutor said.

Police said they are also investigating whether Fairchild offered some female students higher grades in exchange for sex, police said. Fairchild has been placed on unpaid leave from his job at Sunny Hills High, where he has taught science for 28 years.

According to a search warrant prepared by the Fullerton Police Department, former students of Fairchild alleged that he made comments about their breast size and propositioned them.

One student told a police investigator that Fairchild “grabbed the groin area of her jeans” and said he wanted to have sex with her, according to the warrant.

The teens’ names were not released because they are minors.

The warrant said one girl complained to Sunny Hills Principal George Giokaris in September that Fairchild had touched her torso. But police said they were not notified of any incidents until May.

District officials said they properly followed procedure after the student complained to the principal. School Board President Barbara R. Kilponen said police are usually notified only at parents’ request.

Fairchild was on vacation in the Caribbean when charges were filed and a warrant was put out for his arrest July 13. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 4, when he will enter a plea.

“We’re coming back in two weeks, and George is going to plead not guilty,” Goethals said outside the court.

Fairchild arrived at the court at 9 a.m. with his wife Patricia and two friends. Fairchild would not comment, but Goethals said his client “is absolutely shocked. He feels terrible. He is absolutely committed to his students.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jo Escobar asked the court to set bail at $25,000, but Goethals asked the judge to consider Fairchild’s 30-year Orange County residency and his willingness to turn himself in. “He has never been in any trouble that I’m aware of,” Goethals said.

Fairchild did not cut short his vacation when he learned of the molestation charges “because there would have been a substantial financial penalty,” Goethals told the court.

Escobar said attorneys who know Fairchild assured her he would turn himself in on Thursday. “I believe that I can get a conviction,” she said outside court.