Teacher Pleads Not Guilty in Assault on Teen
A 26-year-old Los Angeles middle school teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to kidnapping and assaulting a teenage girl as she waited for a bus to her high school in May, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Drew Middle School teacher Raul Ramirez, who is being held on $5-million bail, is charged with kidnapping to commit forcible oral copulation, making criminal threats, using a tear gas weapon and assault with a firearm. He faces a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Ramirez abducted a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint about 5:45 a.m. on May 16, drove to another location and attempted to perform a sex act on the girl.
She struggled with Ramirez before managing to escape, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Victor Rodriguez. Ramirez was arrested Jan. 10. after the girl spotted his car and told police, prosecutors said.
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