Teacher Contests Molestation Charges

A 63-year-old Santa Paula High School teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to three charges of sexually molesting his ex-wife’s grandchildren.

Gilbert Wayne Wright did not speak during his brief arraignment in Ventura County Municipal Court on two counts of lewd acts with a child, one count of continuous sexual abuse, special allegations of tying and binding multiple victims and substantial sexual conduct that involved oral copulation.

“It’s going to be a contest of credibility,” said Chuck Samonsky, Wright’s attorney. “He denies that anything happened. The alleged victims apparently say that something did happen. Our job is to ferret out the truth and present it to the jury. Just because somebody says something happened doesn’t mean it did.”

A judge will decide Jan. 27 if authorities have enough evidence against Wright to justify a jury trial.

Wright was arrested last week after a four-month investigation into allegations he had sex on at least two occasions with his two step-grandchildren, ages 11 and 14, during their visit to Santa Paula from Oklahoma.

Friday, a judge refused to reduce Wright’s $250,000 bail, and late Monday afternoon the longtime Santa Paula High math teacher was still attempting to raise the money to get out of jail, Samonsky said.

“It’s obviously a terrific tarnish on [Wright’s] reputation and he intends to defend himself by every means possible,” Samonsky said.