Judge OKs Purging of Records in Molest Case

An Orange County judge took the unusual step Friday of declaring a former Santa Ana teacher “factually innocent” of molesting children in his classroom--a rebuke to prosecutors and police who pursued the case.

The ruling comes 14 months after a jury acquitted Jerome Wilhoit of sexually fondling three students--each younger than 10--and could make him eligible for state compensation for wrongfully jailed inmates.

Wilhoit’s prosecution was widely criticized by parents at Wallace R. Davis Elementary School, who said the teacher’s affectionate nature was misunderstood. Wilhoit was charged with felony molestation for allegedly French kissing female students and touching under their shirts.

An emotional Wilhoit said he viewed Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald’s decision as vindication and an end to an ugly chapter in his life that included a violent beating in jail, the loss of his job and destruction of his marriage.

“Not guilty was not enough. I was innocent from the beginning, and I needed the record to reflect that,” Wilhoit said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rebecca Heinlein argued against the ruling, insisting in a legal brief that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring the case against Wilhoit to trial.

“We respectfully disagree with his decision,” Heinlein said. “Our position is there was reasonable cause to believe he committed the offense for which he was arrested.”

Fitzgerald, however, concluded that the case against Wilhoit was so weak that it should not have been brought to trial. His ruling means all records of Wilhoit’s arrest and prosecution will be purged from state and federal files.

Although the ruling makes it easier for Wilhoit to return to the classroom, he said he doubts he’ll ever try to get a job as a public school teacher. He now is a minister and private piano teacher.

Wilhoit was one of four Orange County teachers cleared of molestation charges within a five-month stretch in 1999 and 2000.

Newport Beach attorney Milton Grimes, who represented Wilhoit at trial, said suggestive questioning by investigators is to blame for this record.

“Children are easily impressionable. If you ask a child, ‘What happened?’ they’ll give you one answer. If you ask them ‘Did this happen?’ they’ll give you a different answer,” Grimes said.

Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna, a department spokesman, defended his detectives’ work. “We do not bring every case of this type to the district attorney’s office for prosecution. Some we find are made up or exaggerated. We didn’t feel that was the case with this case,” Luna said. “But we respect what the court has done.”

Wilhoit, now 39, said he believes there are different standards for male teachers, particularly with younger students. He taught a combination second-and third-grade class at the time of his arrest in May 1998.

“I’d kiss them on the forehead and make the kissing sound, not really kissing, a lot of stuff women do. But when men do it, it’s something sinister,” Wilhoit said.

The judge’s ruling doesn’t change his philosophy about dealing with children, he said. “We’re just raising kids to be completely hands-off,” he said. “I don’t know how they’re going to enjoy life if they don’t learn to relate to people in a more human way.”