Teacher Held in Sexual Abuse of Girl, 15
A 28-year-old Burbank High School drama and English teacher was being held Friday night on suspicion of sexual abuse stemming from an alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl, Burbank police said.
Anthony Paul Bingham, a three-year employee of the Burbank Unified School District, was arrested Thursday night at his home in the 200 block of North Rose Street.
He was being held on suspicion of lewd conduct, vaginal penetration with a foreign object and oral copulation with a person under 16, said Burbank Police Lt. Larry Koch.
The charges stem from Bingham’s alleged sexual relationship with a then-15-year-old Burbank girl over several months in 1998, Koch said. Police declined to say whether the girl, now 16, was a Burbank High student. There was no accusation that force was used, Koch said.
Bob Fraser, director of human resources for the school district, said school officials were caught off guard by Bingham’s arrest.
“I am surprised, and the district regrets the occasion,” he said.
Bingham has been placed on paid administrative leave and will not be fired “until we have a definitive statement that he is guilty,” Fraser said.
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