Elementary Teacher Accused of Lewd Conduct With Six Pupils

A Lincoln Heights elementary school teacher pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges of lewd conduct with six female pupils.

Simon Diaz, 44, a teacher at the Gates Street Elementary School, was being held on a $5,000 bond after being charged in Los Angeles Municipal Court with six counts of lewd conduct in separate incidents from 1985 until November, 1987.

Diaz is alleged to have touched the fourth- and fifth-grade girls by rubbing his pelvic area against their buttocks. Deputy Dist. Atty. Nick Koumjian said there is no evidence that Diaz ever removed his clothing or touched the girls under their clothing. The pupils range in age from 10 through 12.

Diaz, who was ordered to appear at a Feb. 16 preliminary hearing, was arrested Monday afternoon at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s administrative office in Lincoln Heights, where he was reassigned in early November when police began investigating allegations against him, Police Lt. John Ferguson said.

A spokesman for the district, Bill Rivera, said Diaz was “pulled from the classroom” on Nov. 3, the day after two students went to the school principal’s office to report that Diaz had molested them.

“He was reassigned to administrative duties pending completion of a police investigation, and yesterday they moved in and arrested him,” Rivera said.

Rivera said that Diaz was placed on unpaid leave Monday pending the outcome of his case.

Diaz, a teacher with the district since 1978, had been at Gates Street School since 1981, Rivera said.

Koumjian said authorities began an investigation after two of the girls approached Diaz’ wife, who is a teacher’s aide at Gates Street School, and told her that Diaz had fondled them. The wife, according to Koumjian, told the girls that their allegations could ruin her husband’s career and that they should report them to the school principal.