Ex-LAUSD teacher pleads no contest in sex abuse case involving Canoga Park students

A former teacher at a Los Angeles Unified elementary school in Canoga Park pleaded no contest Tuesday to two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Rene Tenas, 39, is scheduled to be sentenced to five years in prison on Nov. 16 at the Van Nuys Courthouse, according to attorneys on both sides. Tenas must also register as a sex offender.

The two felony counts involve six children who were students at Hart Street Elementary School at the time of the incidents, which took place between Aug. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017.

“Mr. Tenas, I do not like what you did to me…that was wrong,” stated a child’s letter to her abuser read by the girl’s mother in court. “You are so disgusting. You should know better. You are the worst teacher I have ever known.”

The girl, who is not being named by the Southern California News Group because she’s a victim of sexual abuse, also stated that she was happy the teacher left the class and the school.|”Why did you do that to my bottom and lick my feet?… I hate you for what you did,” she wrote.

Another victim, also in a statement read by that girl’s mother to the court, called Tenas a “very disrespectful teacher.”

“These kids are suffering every day because of what you did,” the girl’s letter stated. “These kids will never trust you again.”

Tenas’ defense attorney, Jonathan Lynn, said the plea deal allows Tenas “to accept responsibility” while allowing the victims to “avoid having to come to court and testify.”

A civil lawsuit was filed in November on behalf of four of the victims and their families against Tenas, the school and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

That lawsuit contends that Tenas engaged in kissing, fondling, touching the victims’ butts, bodies and persons, and “licking plaintiffs’ feet during the school day” for sexual gratification.

Prosecutors initially charged Tenas with one felony count of lewd conduct upon a child and six misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. Had he been convicted on all of those counts, he would have faced up to 14 years in prison, Lynn said.

Tenas, who was out on bail and wore a blue dress shirt, tie and slacks on Tuesday, was taken into custody after entering his pleas.

An LAUSD spokeswoman said by email that when allegations were made against a teacher at Hart Street Elementary, the district followed protocol by “immediately reassigning the employee from the classroom, notifying parents and cooperating with law enforcement.”

The teacher was placed on administrative leave without pay in January of 2018 “and is no longer an active employee,” she said.

She added the district takes all allegations of misconduct “very seriously.”

Michael Carrillo, who is representing three victims in the civil case, argued the school district had a duty to protect their children and “didn’t fulfill that duty at all.” He said rumors about the teacher had been circulating for years.

Tenas started working as a teacher assistant at LAUSD’s Oxnard Street Elementary School in North Hollywood in November of 2000, according to district records. He then worked briefly as a teacher at Sunny Brae Avenue Elementary School in Winnetka in 2005 and for Gledhill Street Elementary School in North Hills from October of 2005 through November of 2008. It was there that he became a permanent teacher.

Tenas was then transferred to Bassett Elementary School in Lake Balboa and then to Liggett Street Elementary School in Panorama City before moving to Hart Street Elementary in July of 2010.

In 2012, he worked as a substitute teacher at various schools after being laid off and was rehired at Hart Street in July of 2015. In January of 2017, he was moved to a local district office before being put on leave in January, according to district records.