Ex-Students Accuse Teacher of Abuse

Despite their anger, women who alleged they were sexually abused still referred to the man they identified as their assailant in court Monday as “Mr. Kreutzer.”

Speaking out publicly for the first time, several women testified that as students years ago they were abused by Paul Alphonse Kreutzer, a longtime Los Angeles elementary school teacher.

“I was unsure of what was going on,” one 35-year-old woman testified, referring to when the teacher allegedly began improperly touching her when she was a fifth-grader.

Kreutzer, 62, who last taught at Liggett Street Elementary School in Panorama City, showed no emotion during the testimony on the first day of his preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Superior Court.

The teacher, who has taught public and parochial schools in the Los Angeles since 1972, is accused of 31 counts of molestation-related offenses, ranging from lewd acts to sexual abuse, involving 10 students. The oldest is a woman now in her 40s; the youngest, still a teenager. They were between 6 and about 13 when the alleged acts occurred, Deputy Dist. Atty. Peggy Beckstrand said.

Deputy Public Defender Rose Reglos said Kreutzer, who is in custody in lieu of $1-million bail, has been falsely accused.

Kreutzer of Canyon Country worked at three parochial schools in the 1970s and 1980s, including Our Lady of Peace in North Hills and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Newhall, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Since 1986, Kreutzer has been employed by Los Angeles Unified School District, at Vena Elementary School in Pacoima until 1991 and at Sunland Elementary School from 1991 to 1996, after which he joined the Liggett faculty.

On Monday, the 35-year-old woman said: “Mr. Kreutzer and I went out quite often. . . . I didn’t want to stop being Mr. Kreutzer’s special little girl.”

Another victim now in her 30s, who alleged that Kreutzer fondled her during a field trip, testified: “He said if I said anything, nobody would believe me.”