Lower Bail Denied for Teacher Held on Sex Charges

Until further details are known, a Los Angeles County judge refused to reduce the $265,000 bail for a Granada Hills High School teacher charged with having unlawful sex with a 17-year-old special education student last month.

Friday’s bail hearing in Glendale Municipal Court came three days after Florine Maria Strimel, 35, pleaded not guilty to five counts of unlawful sex with a minor and two counts of oral copulation with a minor.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 7.

If convicted, Strimel, a Glendale resident who was arrested March 12, could face a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison.

According to court records, Strimel is suspected of having sexual relations with one of her English students at her home on Salem Street between Feb. 13 and Feb. 25.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tuppence Macintyre also said this week that several thousand dollars were transferred from the alleged victim’s bank account to the defendant’s. Macintyre declined to comment further on the money transfer and Strimel’s relationship with the minor.

Strimel’s attorney, William Wooten, had argued that bail should be lowered because the teacher doesn’t have a criminal record, can’t afford the bail, suffers from a medical condition and has promised to avoid contact with the alleged victim.

More charges could be filed, authorities said, as Glendale police continue investigating allegations that Strimel had sexual relations with other minors, including San Fernando Valley high school students.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials have acknowledged that police had investigated Strimel on similar allegations when she was a substitute teacher in 1996 and 1997. No action was taken, district officials said, because the claims were not substantiated.