La Mirada High teacher denies molesting 5 students at school

A La Mirada High School teacher accused of molesting five students on campus recently pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Michael Rodriguez, 47, of Riverside was arraigned Aug. 30 in Downey Superior Court on five counts of misdemeanor child molesting, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He said the victims are five girls.

Rodriguez is accused of annoying and molesting five students at the high school, located at 13520 Adelfa Drive, between Sept. 1, 2018 and Nov. 30, 2018, according to a statement from Lt. Richard Ruiz of the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau said.

The victims reported the alleged molestations to school officials who then notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Ruiz said.

District officials placed Rodriguez on administrative leave at the start of the investigation.

The DA’s Office filed charges against the teacher on July 17, 2019, Santiago said.

Rodriguez was arrested Aug. 30 at Downey Superior Court.

Lisa Reed, who is the principal at La Mirada High School, declined to comment and referred to a statement on the Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District’s website, issued by the district’s division of human resources.

The district was recently informed that a La Mirada High School teacher who has not been present on campus since December 2018 was arrested on an alleged violation of annoyance of a minor, according to the statement.

“We continue to work with local law enforcement. Because the matter remains under investigation, we are not able to provide additional details at this time,” the statement says. “The safety and well-being of our students is the board’s highest priority. We take allegations of employee misconduct involving children very seriously.”

Booking records show Rodriguez is out on bond. He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, Sept. 4. He returns to court Oct. 10 for a pre-trial hearing.