Teacher Pleads Not Guilty to Molestation

A veteran San Fernando Valley elementary school teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he molested seven young girls from 1968 through 1996.

The instructor, Paul Alphonse Kreutzer, is on leave from his job teaching second- and third-grade students at Liggett Street Elementary School in Panorama City.

Alleged victims who had seen March media reports of Kreutzer’s arrest on child pornography charges contacted authorities, police said.

“We’ve got women coming forward in their late 30s and early 40s,” said Randy Aden, a supervisory special agent for the FBI. “After the publicity surrounding his arrest, we started receiving phone calls from women who indicated that he was their teacher, or some sort of instructor, who sexually exploited them.”

Jeannie King, 39, was one of two mothers of Liggett students who attended the arraignment Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court. None of the victims listed in the complaint against Kreutzer were students from Liggett, but King said his arrest has been very traumatic for students and parents at the school.

“We got to know him. He seemed like Mr. Rogers,” said King. “It’s scary. Your imagination runs wild,”

Robin Hutton, another Liggett mother, said Kreutzer became close to her family, even attending her daughter’s birthday party.

“We feel like we were betrayed,” Hutton said.

Kreutzer has worked for the district since 1986. He was at Vena Elementary School in Pacoima from 1986 to 1991 and at Sunland Elementary School from 1991 to 1996, according to Shel Erlich, spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Kreutzer joined the Liggett faculty in 1996.

Erlich declined to comment on whether there were any complaints against Kreutzer on file, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.

Liggett Principal David Sanchez said that Kreutzer had a good reputation at the school and that there were no warning signs before his March arrest on the porn charges.

“We were all shocked,” Sanchez said. “He was a very good teacher. The parents liked him.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said Kreutzer worked at three parochial schools in the 1970s and ‘80s, including Our Lady of Peace in North Hills and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Santa Clarita. A spokesman declined to identify the third school, saying it had not yet been contacted.

Aden, the FBI agent, said some of the seven alleged victims contacted police, while others were found later during the inquiry.

“Our first call came from out of state. Somebody in California saw the press coverage and contacted someone in another state who had been a victim,” Aden said.

“[The alleged victims] told us they never would have felt comfortable coming forward if he had not been arrested. Sometimes it takes an arrest. Sometimes it takes another victim coming forward,” the agent said.

On Friday, Kreutzer was represented by a public defender.

Peggy Beckstrom, the deputy district attorney handling the case, declined to discuss the allegations. She said the alleged victims will probably testify in open court at the preliminary hearing.

“If a child walks up to you when they are 7 or a 30- or 40-year-old looks at you and says they were molested, what difference does it make?” Beckstrom said. “If a child was molested one day ago or 20 years ago, it doesn’t matter.”