Ex-Coach Arrested on Molestation Charge : Misconduct: Kenneth Carl Cronquist allegedly kissed and hugged two female students in his office at Whittier Christian High School in La Habra. He was fired in June.

The former head coach of a high school girls’ basketball team has been arrested on a misdemeanor charge of annoying/molesting two students, which included kissing and hugging them in his office over a six-month period, officials said Saturday.

Kenneth Carl Cronquist, also a former teacher and counselor at Whittier Christian High School, was arrested by La Habra police at his home in the San Gabriel Valley city of Duarte about 6:30 a.m. Friday after a four-month police investigation, Sgt. Jeff Love said.

Two girls from the school’s varsity team reported to a school counselor on May 30 that Cronquist had been kissing and hugging them in his office with the doors closed, school Principal Gary Pate said.

“The kisses had been on the cheek or on their foreheads,” Pate said. “Not mouth-to-mouth kisses.”

After school officials learned of the allegations and the complaints were reported to police, the school’s 13-member board of directors voted unanimously June 3 to fire Cronquist.

“The reason why our board removed him was because he had admitted that he had been hugging and kissing some students,” Pate said. “We had to take swift and decisive action. It was not a pleasant decision.”

Cronquist, who taught physical education and health classes at the school for two years, did not return a call for comment. He was released from the La Habra City Jail Friday on his own recognizance and spent Saturday proctoring a standardized test at a school in Los Angeles.

Since being discharged from Whittier, Cronquist began working in September as a college counselor at the Armenian General Benevolent Union Manoogian-Demirdjian School, a private K-12 school in Canoga Park. Hago Hagopian, the school principal, said he wasn’t aware of Cronquist’s arrest.

“He called Friday morning saying he would be missing the day,” Hagopian said. “He then came in at noon, came into my office and said that there’s a ‘nuisance’--he used the word nuisance --’that’s grown to become some nonsense.’ Then he assured to me that it would be put to rest.”

Although surprised to hear of the arrest, Hagopian said he plans to support Cronquist.

“I believe in the American judicial system of innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “Since he’s been here, he’s been an exemplary employee. Unblemished. His office door is always open when he’s with students.”

The district attorney’s office has filed one misdemeanor count against Cronquist for annoying/molesting a child under the age of 18. Punishment upon conviction can range up to a year in County Jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.