Bail Reduced for Educator Accused of Molesting Girl

Bail was reduced Thursday for a former Westlake Village middle school principal accused of molesting a 13-year-old female student whose family he had befriended.

Jonathan Andreas, 36, who will be charged Aug. 6 with 15 counts of lewd behavior with a child, saw his bail cut to $250,000 from $500,000, which was set when he was arrested Saturday in Thousand Oaks.

He could receive a maximum sentence of 36 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

During a bail review hearing Thursday, his attorney, Robert Schwartz, portrayed Andreas as a popular, well-respected educator whose friends and supporters rallied around him.

“He is very highly regarded by staff and students at school, wherever he taught,” Schwartz told Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McGee. Schwartz said Andreas’ mother, who lives in Cerritos, was deluged with supportive phone calls from students and colleagues at Oaks Christian Middle School, where Andreas was director, and at private and public schools in Pacific Palisades and Bellflower, where he had taught.

Schwartz said Andreas was not a threat to other girls and that his contact with the girl he is accused of molesting was “situational” because of his friendship with her Thousand Oaks family, whom he met through the school.

But prosecutor Douglas Ridley said after the hearing that Andreas had significant sexual contact with the girl, short of intercourse, from June 21 to July 1.

He said several acts took place at different locations, with the final incident occurring at Andreas’ home in Thousand Oaks. The prosecutor said in court that investigators found written plans describing what Andreas would do if caught.

Andreas was fired by Oaks Christian on Tuesday after his arrest became public.