Friday, October 10, 2008

Jury finds ex-teacher

By VICTOR A. PATTON
MERCED SUN-STAR

last updated: November 29, 2007 03:47:14 AM

MERCED -- A former Golden Valley High School drama and Spanish teacher was found guilty on six of nine counts of child molestation nearly four years after he was arrested by Merced police on charges of molesting five of his students.

"I've been waiting for three years for this!" cried the father of one of the victims. He asked to remain anonymous in order to keep his son from being identified. "He needed to be stopped. I feel grateful for these kids coming forward. I give them a lot of credit. He shouldn't be in school, especially around kids."

Jesus Colmenero Rivera, 46, will be housed in a wing of the John Latorraca Correctional Facility that is reserved for sex offenders.

The jury found Rivera guilty on one felony count of oral copulation with a person under age 18 and four felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a 14- or 15-year-old child. He also was found guilty of a misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a child for biting one of the victims on the toe.

Jurors were not able to come to a unanimous decision on the three most serious charges, which involved sexual battery, sexual penetration with force and fear or threat and penetration with a foreign object.

He faces a maximum of six years in prison and a judge could order him to register as a sex offender.

A member of the audience who was seated with a victim's fam-ily said "Yes!" as Merced Supe-rior Court Judge Ronald Hansen ordered Rivera taken into cus-tody.

Defense attorneys Woodrow Nichols and Mario DiSalvo left the courtroom quickly and refused to comment. "I am going to have to think about this," Nichols said.

Prosecutor, families embrace

Prosecutor David Sandhaus remained in the courtroom for several minutes after the verdicts were read, exchanging hugs with teary-eyed members of the victims' families. Sandhaus thanked the jury, which was composed of seven men and five women. A male juror was dismissed last week.

"Obviously, at some level they felt the pain that the victims had gone through and decided to stick it out over every obstacle and reach a just verdict," Sandhaus said, adding, "We're extremely happy with that."

Sandhaus said the Merced County district attorney's office will evaluate whether to pursue the three charges against Rivera on which the jury wasn't able to decide.

"The main concern is we have to contact the victims to see how they feel," Sandhaus said.

Rivera worked at Golden Valley High until January 2004, when a student reported abuse to school administrators and police. Four more students stepped forward later with additional allegations. The victims were 14 to 17 years old at the time the crimes occurred, from 2001 to 2004.

Members of Rivera's family and his partner, David Corser, appeared distraught but declined comment.

Bryant Owens, a close friend of Rivera's, said the guilty verdicts will not stop those who believe in his innocence from continuing to fight for his acquittal. Owens said he disagreed with the jury's conviction of Rivera when he had an alibi for when the crimes occurred.

"He admitted to biting a kid's toe, but that was not a sexual act," Owens said. "The district attorney did not give any proof that those acts took place except for the testimony of the kids. There was no corroborating evidence."

Rivera is scheduled to return to court Dec. 24 for sentencing. A hearing on whether the district attorney's office will pursue the three charges the jury couldn't decide will be held Tuesday.

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