Brea teacher won’t face charges
A Brea junior high school teacher accused of threatening to kill a 12-year-old student in November will not be prosecuted, authorities said Tuesday.
“We reviewed the evidence that was presented and determined that there wasn’t enough to go forward,” Farrah Imami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office, said of the case against Brian Christopher Wilcher, 38.
She declined to elaborate.
Wilcher, a teacher at Brea Junior High School, was arrested Nov. 30 after allegedly telling a seventh-grade boy “something to the effect that ‘next semester you’d better find another teacher, because if you’re in my class I’m going to kill you,’ ” a police spokesman said at the time.
It was unclear what led to the statement, Brea Police Lt. Jack Conklin said, but “there was some allegation that the kid was being disruptive in the classroom.”
The student, whose name was not released, reported the incident to a counselor, who notified administrators. Wilcher was arrested the next day on suspicion of making criminal threats and released after posting a $50,000 bond.
A Brea Olinda Unified School District official said Tuesday that the teacher was on administrative leave while an independent investigator looked into the allegations “to assess whether there were any significant violations of professional conduct.”
If it is determined that there were, Supt. Skip Roland said, disciplinary action could range from a reprimand to termination “based on the severity and frequency” of the violations.
Roland said the investigation’s findings could be presented to the school board as early as next week.
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