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Jserra Acted ‘as It Should" in Teacher's Sex-abuse Case, Report Says

By Frank Shyong
Orange County Register
April 5, 2012

http://www.ocregister.com/news/report-347822-school-jserra.html

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO A report from a committee investigating JSerra Catholic High School's handling of sexual-misconduct claims against a teacher says the school "did all that could be reasonably expected" to vet the teacher and that the accusations against him before his arrest were insufficient cause for the school to contact authorities.

Ricardo Aldana, 39, a Spanish teacher and volleyball coach from Dana Point, was arrested Dec. 14 and later charged with seven counts of lewd acts with a 14-year-old female student.

Article Tab: This photo of Ricardo Aldana was posted on a Facebook page called Aldana Inspired Me, put together by his supporters.

This photo of Ricardo Aldana was posted on a Facebook page called "Aldana Inspired Me," put together by his supporters.

JSerra fired Aldana the day after his arrest. He pleaded not guilty in January. He could face up to seven years in state prison if convicted.

The mother told the Register in December that she had approached the school with concerns about sexual misconduct months before she went to law enforcement about it.

According to the committee's report, Frank Talarico, the school's president and chief executive at the time, had suspended Aldana after consulting an attorney, then reinstated him when the mother would not provide more information. Talarico left JSerra in February to become CEO of Goodwill of Orange County.

During its three-month investigation, the committee interviewed several members of the JSerra administration and other involved parties. The committee included former California Secretary of Education Marian Bergeson, retired Superior Court judge Pamela Iles and former Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O'Neil.

"Rather than being criticized with the benefit of hindsight, Mr. Talarico and JSerra should be recognized for acting as they should," according to the committee report, released Wednesday.

But Vince Finaldi, an attorney representing the girl, said the report is incomplete because Aldana's case is still being investigated by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, preventing the mother and daughter from commenting for the report. The girl and her mother are not being named because the Register does not publish information that could identify victims of sexual abuse.

Finaldi said he and his client have not discussed a lawsuit against the school.

In February, the Register obtained documents from Aldana's previous employer, the Centinela Valley Union High School District, that revealed he was suspended from a teaching job at Hawthorne High School in 2003 after "allegations of misconduct and/or inappropriate behavior."

The committee report states that JSerra had no knowledge of the past allegations against Aldana: He had a clean report from Live Scan, an automated fingerprint-based service for providing criminal background checks, and on his job application, Aldana answered "no" when asked whether he had ever been suspended, dismissed or accused of child abuse.

He also provided two references from Hawthorne High School. Former JSerra Principal Tom Waszak says in the report that he didn't remember calling Aldana's references but added that doing so was common practice.

"We were never informed during the hiring process that those documents (regarding Hawthorne High) existed," said Mike Patterson, an attorney specializing in child-abuse prevention and defense who was retained by JSerra shortly after Aldana was arrested.

The report says JSerra did not violate the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, which states that any school employee who "knows or reasonably suspects" that a child has been abused must report it to the police or child-protective services within 36 hours.

"In this case, a report as mandated by the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act was neither required or appropriate," the report states.

In an earlier interview, the mother said she told the school that Aldana had been calling and texting her daughter late at night and invited the girl to see a movie with him alone.

"I told them, 'Either you have a predator on your hands or someone who doesn't understand boundaries,'" the mother said.

The report doesn't mention of the "predator" comment. Because the mother wouldn't meet with the school and did not specifically allege sexual contact, the administration didn't have grounds for reasonable suspicion of child abuse under the law, the report states.

"The findings of this committee, handpicked by JSerra, are no surprise, especially since they are predicated upon incorrect assumptions regarding what the victim's mother actually reported to Mr. Talarico," Finaldi said. "The victim and her mother will provide an appropriate response to this report once the criminal process against Mr. Aldana has concluded. The report should be considered preliminary and incomplete until that time."

Terry Lynn Fisher, spokeswoman for Orange County Social Services, which handles claims of child sexual abuse and gives training sessions on the responsibility to report suspicions, said she could not comment on the specific case. But she said she found the allegations alarming.

"In general, if a parent relayed similar concerns to me, I would rather err on the side of caution and be protective of the child," Fisher said.

The committee's report recommends that JSerra adopt the policy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange Schools, in which outside investigators examine child-abuse cases. The committee also suggests a closer relationship between JSerra and the diocese to enable the school to use the diocese's resources in future sexual-abuse cases.

Contact the writer: fshyong@ocregister.com or 949-492-5135

 

 

 

 

 




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