GUILTY CA - Teacher Mark Berndt charged with molesting 23 children

Belinda · Jan 31, 2012

A former 61-year-old elementary school teacher has been charged with molesting 23 children after an investigation by authorities uncovered more than 40 photographs showing victims with their eyes blindfolded and mouths covered with tape, possibly inside a classroom.

Mark Berndt was arrested at his Torrance home Monday following a year-long probe that began when a film processor turned in the images to law enforcement. Berndt was a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in an unincorporated area of south Los Angeles for more than 30 years, but was fired by the school district shortly after the investigation began in January 2011.

(snip)

Early in the investigation, Special Victims Bureau detectives recovered a blue plastic spoon and an empty container from the trash in the suspect's classroom. The recovered items tested positive for semen, authorities said, and the suspect's DNA matched the DNA profile found on the spoon and container.

Authorities are recommending the children be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, the Associated Press reported.

Much more at link:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...la-teacher-charged-with-molesting-23-children

katydid23 · Jan 31, 2012

Did that monster lock the classroom door? How could he possibly duct tape children's faces inside the classroom and never have anyone walk in?

Belinda · Jan 31, 2012

That wasn't the worst thing he did.

katydid23 · Jan 31, 2012

Belinda said:
That wasn't the worst thing he did.

Yes, I know.

I was just trying to understand how he got away with it. I worked in an elementary school. I worked in the office and I always walked through the halls, went into classrooms, taking notes, messages, lunches etc.
I walked into classrooms with no warning all day every day. Didn't this school have that kind of interactions?

Belinda · Jan 31, 2012

Yes, it is bizarre to say the least. I was rather incredulous myself.

Missizzy · Jan 31, 2012

Offenders are fast. I started a thread yesterday on a teacher arrested for abusing 4 little boys in class--during movies and reading time. I realize it's shocking but I think it adds to the "thrill factor". Disgusting.

Belinda · Jan 31, 2012

The pictures look extremely dissimilar. I don't think it's him.

MsFacetious · Jan 31, 2012

I am still amazed at the fact that he found that many children who never told anyone, ever after this long.
I know kids keep the secret... but once you hit 20 kids, your odds get pretty good that you are going to find one that will tell...
Wow.

Lera213 · Jan 31, 2012

I also put blame on the school. The principle and vice principle should be making rounds to classroom's! How else would the principle know exactly what and how their teachers are teaching?

When I was the SLO for DoDDS the principle, and vice made rounds DAILY!

jjenny · Jan 31, 2012

Lera213 said:
I also put blame on the school. The principle and vice principle should be making rounds to classroom's! How else would the principle know exactly what and how their teachers are teaching?

When I was the SLO for DoDDS the principle, and vice made rounds DAILY!

Even if they were making rounds, the teacher would presumably know what time the rounds took place.

Missizzy · Jan 31, 2012

Spend some time reading Anna Salter's fine book, "Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders" and your eyes will be opened. Dr. Salter relates one disclosure after another directly from sex offenders who are incarcerated or in treatment. They are dedicated to being swift and clandestine. They can also accrue an enormous number of victims before they are caught.

There's no way in the world that I believe that this man's victim list stops at 23 children. Nope.

JoeFromLB · Jan 31, 2012

http://www.newser.com/article/d9sk5...with-photographing-and-molesting-23-kids.html

The incidents occurred during school hours but not all the children were students of Berndt, Marquez said (Sheriff's Lt. Carlos Marquez of the Special Victims Bureau).

None of the alleged victims told anyone about the incidents and photos, Marquez said.

"They didn't know they were being violated in that manner. They just thought it was a game," Marquez said.

The lieutenant said Berndt was placed under surveillance and it's believed he had no contact with children during the investigation.

Berndt is unmarried, has no children and there's no indication of a previous arrest record, authorities said.

"I am sickened and horrified by the behavior of Mark Berndt," Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy said in a statement.

Missizzy · Jan 31, 2012

These are not the first kids to think that sexual assault was a game. Pedophiles are so good at twisting children's minds. There's a reason they are called predators.

Here's another teacher with a similar MO:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/co...they-complained-about-white-weeks-arrest.html

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_04e5b949-69f6-5270-9a02-9c681d99e9a1.html

Jon White got 48 years for his little "games".

katydid23 · Jan 31, 2012

jjenny said:
Even if they were making rounds, the teacher would presumably know what time the rounds took place.

True. But the school I worked in had a very open door classroom policy. We were sent to the classrooms throughout the day, instead of using the phone system. We personally took messages or packages or supplies to the rooms throughout the day, several times ,every single day.

MrsG728 · Jan 31, 2012

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: Again? This horrible abuse happened again? The sickening details of this case brought me back here tonight after a short hiatus.

I came back specifically to hug and hold each and every one of you who has ever endured sexual abuse. How horrible and horrific life must have been before you found solace. I am sorry you had to endure this, and my thoughts are with you.

May this monster rot in hell.:furious:

JoeFromLB · Feb 1, 2012

katydid23 said:
True. But the school I worked in had a very open door classroom policy. We were sent to the classrooms throughout the day, instead of using the phone system. We personally took messages or packages or supplies to the rooms throughout the day, several times ,every single day.

According to one local TV news report this evening (forgot which channel), he allegedly took one or two of the children at a time from the playground, after school, into the classroom to molest them.

Many schoolchildren in L.A. stay after school until their working parents can come to pick them up. They can be there for several hours after school has ended for the day.

Belinda · Feb 1, 2012

When I read what he did to them, it just made me gag. I get the other stuff (not really), but why did he do that? That is so disgusting it turns my stomach.

JBean · Feb 1, 2012

Deasy said he did not know whether Berndt is receiving any retirement checks from the state. A district spokeswoman said his pension benefits would not be affected one way or the other
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_19863743?source=rss

Salem · Feb 1, 2012

Hmmmm....... I don't think the school district or CalPers should be paying someone retirement for molesting children. That is GROSS! and outrageous. Besides hopefully he will be going to jail for a really long time. If that happens, his retirement benefits should be paid to the state for his upkeep!

Salem

Missizzy · Feb 1, 2012

I'm a little unclear here. So, what has Berndt been doing since the investigation opened in 2010-11? Was he in the classroom? In contact with children? Who was protecting those children during the investigation? From the following article:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/teacher-arrested-lewd-acts-average.html

"....He was arrested after a nearly yearlong investigation by the L.A. County sheriff's special victims unit that began when a photo processor turned over pictures of some of the alleged acts to authorities. Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the victims identified so far are 23 boys and girls aged 7 to 10 who had contact with Berndt between 2008 and 2010...."

How could an offender be so incredibly STUPID as to turn over those photos to a processor? Was it a "marvelous error" or intentional?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0201-teacher-20120201,0,5063298.story?track=rss

"....In the fall of 2010, a drugstore photo technician was running a batch of 35-millimeter film when a disturbing image tumbled out of the machine — a child, blindfolded with a white cloth and gagged with clear packing tape. From that first photograph, detectives spent the next year following a trail that led them to a South Los Angeles elementary school. They say they found acts of staggering depravity.

There were more photos, it turned out — 400 more, traced to an apartment in nearby Torrance, then to a bustling schoolhouse in South Los Angeles...."

GUILTY CA - Teacher Mark Berndt charged with molesting 23 children

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