Schools try to ease fears after arrests

Two Los Angeles area schools -- one private, one public -- dealt Monday with the aftermath of the arrests of veteran teachers suspected of downloading child pornography. Both campuses tried to reassure parents and students over safety concerns while also protecting the privacy of their faculty.

The two teachers, David Hassler, 62, a government and religion teacher at the private all-girls Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena, and Kenneth Kothe, 61, a first-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Lynwood, were arrested last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of Operation Predator, which targets people believed to be downloading child pornography from the Internet.

In the wake of the arrests, Mayfield and Lincoln administrators were faced with a nightmare: seeking to allay public fears over children’s safety.

Mayfield, a Catholic prep school with a reputation for discretion and discipline, almost immediately sent out a news release, held a parent assembly and provided counseling for students. As a “community of compassion” the school is committed to dealing as openly as possible with parents and students while respecting the rights of all individuals, said Rita McBride, the head of the school, in the release.

At Lincoln, which has a largely Latino student body and is in Lynwood, a working-class city south of downtown Los Angeles, some parents complained that they had not heard about the arrest from school administrators. Henry Solis went to the school Monday, saying he had learned of the incident from a television news report. After speaking briefly with administrators, he said he did not feel reassured.

“My daughter was with that teacher in the third grade, so of course I want to know as much as possible,” he said. “But they didn’t tell me anything.”

Socorro Urenda, whose son Bryan attends Lincoln, also visited the school Monday and said: “The teachers here are all very good, but I only heard about the news from a friend. It would be better if we heard something from” the staff.

Principal Yvette Harps said she would send a letter to parents and that she was scheduling morning and afternoon meetings today for additional questions and if parents “need us to comfort them.”

Harps said the school sent an advisory notice home with students Friday and has had counselors on campus since then for students. The school held a faculty meeting Monday, and Harps said she had met with individual parents.

“We are a family here at Lincoln,” she said. “Anything that affects one of us affects us all.”

Mayfield Senior School of the Holy Child Jesus was founded in 1931.

The leafy 7.5-acre campus behind iron gates is in southwest Pasadena, on the edge of the Arroyo Seco. Its main hall dates from the early 20th century, and annual tuition is $18,200.

The school held an open house Sunday for parents of prospective students, and a campus official said there was concern that the arrest would be a main topic of conversation. But none of the parents mentioned the incident, the official said.

When contacted Monday, McBride -- citing the well-being of students -- declined to comment further.

In the statement released last week, she said police informed her Wednesday that Hassler had been arrested.

The arrest was made off campus, and there were no indications of improper conduct at the school, she said. Faculty, staff and parents were notified the same day.

An assembly was held Thursday morning for the school’s 300 students, and afterward they met with their class advisors in group sessions and were encouraged to “process their reactions openly, in a safe and compassionate environment.”

The school is also providing ongoing counseling for individuals and groups. A hastily arranged assembly for parents was also held Thursday evening.

“There is nothing more important to us than the well-being of every member of the Mayfield community,” McBride wrote. “When these allegations came to our attention we took immediate action to inform parents, students and staff and to offer support through group discussion and individual counseling.”

Linda Mennis, whose 17-year-old daughter is a Mayfield senior, praised the school’s response.

“The school couldn’t have done a better job,” said Mennis, president of the parent association. “They really dealt with the girls in a sensitive manner, and they’re really doing very well.

“It’s a testament to the strength of the community that they handled it so well.”

A school’s ability to be transparent in the immediate aftermath of such an incident can determine how quickly the community gets through the ordeal, experts said.

“It’s when the school becomes insular, and says ‘no comment,’ that’s what frightens parents,” said Jane Hulbert, a private crisis consultant who works with independent schools and colleges. “Parents need to know what’s going on, what the facts are and what the school is doing about it. So an important part of the process is getting out thorough information about these things.”

Part of that reassurance, Hulbert said, includes informing parents that most schools have a fairly rigorous process of vetting teachers. Mayfield, for example, reminded parents that it fingerprints all employees.

In her experience, Hulbert said, similar arrests involving teachers are fairly rare, at least at independent schools.

“Child pornography is a troubling issue for everybody,” she added, “but nothing is foolproof.”

Agents served search warrants at 11 locations, including at Hassler’s South Pasadena home and Kothe’s Alhambra residence.

Investigators said they recovered hundreds of printed images of child pornography at Kothe’s home and “numerous” images allegedly in Hassler’s possession.

Evidence so far indicates that none of the images were of students from either Lincoln or Mayfield, said George Guzman, assistant special agent in charge with the customs agency.

Hassler and Kothe -- neither of whom could be reached for comment -- had taught at their respective schools for about seven years.

Officials say agents were not targeting teachers in the investigation and do not believe that Hassler and Kothe know each other.

The teachers have been released on bail. Both men were also placed on administrative leave by their schools.

“We catch people from all walks of life,” said customs agency spokeswoman Lori Haley. “But we’re especially concerned with people who are closely working with children.”

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carla.rivera@latimes.com

jason.song@latimes.com