SAN LEANDRO — Police here arrested a teacher at Bancroft Middle School after a 13-year-old girl reported that he’d inappropriately touched her repeatedly, starting when she was 12 years old, in what investigators described as “grooming stages,” court records show.
Laurentino Huerta-Garcia, 40, of Manteca, was charged in October with a single felony count of continuous sexual abuse of a child. The girl reportedly told police that she initially believed Huerta-Garcia had “accidentally” brushed his hand against her thigh or touched her buttocks last year, describing him as a cool teacher who was “like an uncle,” but after it happened again this year she realized it was intentional, according to police.
Huerta-Garcia has been under criminal investigation before, during his time at the Fremont Unified School District, when he was investigated for an alleged misdemeanor involving a teen girl, but never charged, authorities said.
Huerta-Garcia has pleaded not guilty. He posted $250,000 late last month and was released from jail. His preliminary hearing — where a judge will review the prosecution’s evidence and decide if there’s enough to uphold the case — has been set for next January, court records show.
At the time of his arrest, Huerta-Garcia was an art teacher at Bancroft Middle School. He no longer shows up on the school’s faculty page and police say the San Leandro Unified School District investigated the claims and determined Huerta-Garcia “likely” touched the girl inappropriately, according to court records.
Authorities also say that Huerta-Garcia was investigated in 2022, while working as a teacher in Fremont, when he allegedly tried to take a picture of a 17-year-old student, and asked her to wear a matching bra and underpants set. Police filed a report, logging it under a potential misdemeanor violation of annoying or molesting a minor, but Huerta-Garcia was never arrested or charged, court records show. Public payroll records say he has been a teacher since 2014.
The Bancroft student’s statement was corroborated by two eyewitnesses, according to police. The girl said that when Huerta-Garcia touched her last year, he would apologize during it. This year, he allegedly stood behind her and grabbed her. She excused herself to a restroom, called a friend for help, and reported it to a school official, authorities said.
The school’s principal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
This marks the second time in the past year that a San Leandro middle school teacher was investigated for alleged sex crimes involving a student. Last year, a trustee’s husband and John Muir Middle School substitute teacher, Francisco Fegurgur, was arrested on suspicion of child coercion but never charged. He allegedly reached out to 12 and 13-year-old girls on Instagram and made comments about wanting to “cuddle” or asking a girl if she was sexually aroused. The district terminated his contract when the allegations surfaced, officials said at the time.
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