Teacher Faces Child Molestation Charges

A veteran schoolteacher awaiting trial on federal child pornography charges has been arrested on state charges of child molestation and lewd conduct dating back to 1968.

Paul Alphonse Kreutzer, 61, of Canyon Country was charged by the district attorney’s office with continuous sexual abuse of two girls and lewd acts against five other girls between 1968 and 1996.

Kreutzer, who taught at Liggett Street Elementary School in Panorama City, had been free on $30,000 bail since his arrest in mid-March on charges of downloading pornographic pictures of children from an Internet Web site.

He is now being held in lieu of $1-million bail pending arraignment Friday in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Kreutzer, who has taught at parochial and public schools in the Los Angeles area since 1972, was scheduled to go on trial in federal court next week on the child pornography charges, a felony carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

According to the district attorney’s complaint, Kreutzer “resided with and had recurring access” to the two girls he is accused of sexually abusing.

One was allegedly abused between September 1968 and June 1969, the other between September 1975 and May 1976.

The latest charges grew out of an investigation by the FBI-led Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) team, which asked for public assistance in locating any other alleged victims.

Kreutzer has been on unpaid leave since his arrest earlier this year.