Teacher’s Supporters Flock to Bail Hearing

A judge refused Tuesday to reduce bail for a Santa Ana teacher charged with molesting three children, even as supporters--including the father of one alleged victim--filled the courtroom seeking the teacher’s freedom.

The attorney for Jerome Thompson Wilhoit handed Municipal Judge Steven L. Perk 150 letters from parents, teachers and students in support of Wilhoit, a teacher at Wallace R. Davis Elementary School who is charged with inappropriately touching three girls, ages 7 and 9.

The father of one of those girls said outside the courtroom: “I came here to help Mr. Wilhoit because I know he didn’t touch my daughter in a bad manner.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg told the judge, however, that police are interviewing four more potential victims, and Perk denied a request to reduce Wilhoit’s bail from $100,000 to $25,000. A preliminary hearing is set for May 27.

Wilhoit, 36, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of felony child molestation. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 18 years in prison, said his lawyer, Ken Schreiber of Irvine.

Schreiber said Wilhoit was beaten by other inmates within the first 12 hours of incarceration in Orange County Jail last weekend, receiving two black eyes and some cuts and bruises on his face. He spent several hours in the jail infirmary after the beating.

Wilhoit, a husband, father and church pianist, has become the center of a community effort to help clear his name. In addition to the letters, parishioners have been holding 24-hour prayer vigils, and fellow teachers have established a legal defense fund with the Orange County Teachers Credit Union.

Santa Ana police defended the strength of their case.

“The evidence is there,” Sgt. Steve Despenas said. “The office and the district attorney’s office felt that there was enough to file criminal charges. Let the courts decide.”

Wilhoit’s troubles began May 8, when a male student in his combination second- and third-grade class at Davis told the principal he saw Wilhoit inappropriately touching another student. The principal, Lillian French, called Child Protective Services, as she is required to do, and Wilhoit was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the police investigation. When he was arrested four days later, Wilhoit was suspended without pay as required by school policy, said John Bennett, the deputy superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Two of the incidents allegedly took place in his classroom at Davis, where Wilhoit is in his first year of full-time teaching. The other incident apparently occurred in February when he was a substitute teacher for a day at Carl Harvey Elementary School, also in Santa Ana.

Wilhoit’s supporters say the alleged incidents are harmless. The father of one 7-year-old alleged victim said she told him Wilhoit gave her a pat on the buttocks for exemplary school work. Wilhoit’s lawyer said that another incident involved Wilhoit giving a “raspberry on the tummy” in front of the entire class.

To the news that there may be other alleged victims, Schreiber said outside of court, “That’s b.s.”

In court, Wilhoit’s wife, Rosalie, cried during most of the proceedings. She was surrounded by supporters, many of them from the Westminster Good Samaritan Seventh Day Adventist Church, where the Wilhoits are members.

“We’ve very convinced of his innocence because we know him very well,” said Jacki Skeels, a member of the church.

Mark L. Van Dorn, a teacher at Kennedy Elementary School, said he has been friends with Wilhoit for more than 20 years, since they attended Santa Ana High School together. On Monday, he and a few other teachers started a legal defense fund at the teachers credit union, which now has a balance of $200 to $300, he said.

“This is a situation where it could have happened to anyone,” Van Dorn said.

A group of about 100 parents met with administrators at the school Tuesday night to ask questions about the situation and to express their support for Wilhoit. Some brought their children, who waved signs that read: “We want the teacher free” and “We love you.”

Many of those at the meeting described the beleaguered teacher as a warm, affectionate person who went out of his way to help students cross the street or to give them a ride home. They said he often rewarded students for academic achievement or good behavior by bringing them treats like doughnuts or fast-food burgers.

Some expressed concern about the message that Wilhoit’s arrest has sent to the faculty.

“Now the other teachers will be afraid to hug the kids or even say, ‘I love you,’ ” parent Guadalupe Gonzalez said. “Who will the kids go to? Who will they confide in?”

Others said they cannot believe the allegations against Wilhoit. “I think it’s a pure lie. The teacher is excellent,” said Guadalupe Olague, who has two children at the school. “The girls lied,” she said of the alleged victims, “but they’re just kids--kids lie.”