Van Nuys : Teacher to Be Tried in Molestation Case

A judge Friday ordered a Hazeltine Avenue Elementary School teacher to stand trial for allegedly molesting nine boys, most of them during sleepovers and pizza parties at the teacher’s home.

Two of the boys, all of whom are from low-income Latino families, told a preliminary hearing that they were molested in the classroom during and after school.

Based on new revelations from some of the boys on the witness stand, Van Nuys Municipal Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers agreed to add three new felony charges against teacher Jeffrey Herbert Raker for a total of 15 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and continuous sex abuse.

The majority of the alleged acts range from genital fondling to mutual oral copulation over a 2 1/2-year period ending in March. That was when one of the boys told a playground supervisor what was going on.

Raker was hired by the Los Angeles Unified School District after returning to the United States from Guatemala, where he ran an orphanage.

Detective Rose Ferrufino of the Los Angeles Police Department said documents from Guatemala show that Raker served jail time there based on accusations of child molestation, although it is unclear if he was convicted on the charges.

During the four-day preliminary hearing, Raker sat impassively as the witnesses identified him as their molester.

His attorney, Robert Berke, declined to comment.