School Janitor Charged With Molesting 11 Girls in Van Nuys

A 53-year-old janitor at Kester Elementary School in Van Nuys has been charged with molesting 11 girls in the fourth and fifth grades, authorities said Wednesday.

William Lester Thompson, who has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District since 1977, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Tuesday to 11 counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child, according to police and school district officials.

Police said they began a probe Friday after two girls complained to school officials about Thompson.

“They came forward on their own,” said Capt. Ann Young of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Van Nuys Division.

After conducting interviews Friday, police determined that at least six students had been molested and arrested Thompson that day, Officer Marcell Morris said.

On Monday, police interviewed five more alleged victims, Morris said. Police said all the girls are between 9 and 11.

Morris said all the acts occurred on school grounds over the past several months, and in some cases involved inappropriate touching. The investigators declined to be more specific, citing a continuing investigation. “We feel there may be additional victims out there,” Young said.

Morris said police are looking into the possibility that victims may have been given drug-laced brownies.

LAPD Det. Felicia Crockett said the victims are being counseled by school psychologists. She added that a school program designed to alert students to inappropriate sexual behavior may have prompted the victims to step forward.

Police said Thompson does not

have a criminal record. They said they did not know his address.

Thompson was being held in lieu of $550,000 bail. Neither he nor a representative could be reached for comment.

Thompson had worked at Pacoima Skills Center, an adult vocational school, before starting at Kester Elementary in September 1999 as the plant manager, said Hilda Ramirez, a district spokeswoman. She said he has been put on forced, unpaid leave.

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Times staff writer Zanto Peabody contributed to this story.