L.A. Teacher Accused of Feeding Semen to Students
Los Angeles - A Los Angeles school teacher is accused blindfolding and spoon-feeding sperm to his students, and is now facing 23 counts of lewd acts on a minor.
The teacher, Mark Berndt, 61, of Torrance allegedly tied his students up, blindfolded them and told them they were going to play a "taste-testing game," according to authorities, and the students unknowingly were fed the semen.
They've been allegations that Berndt also put semen on cookies and other food item, which the DA is investigating.
Authorities allege that Berndt also put tape around the student's mouths and tortured them by gagging them.
The students are between ages 7-10, according to detectives.
These allegations came to light after a photograph technician at a drug store discovered the photographs of the alleged act after developing them, and the technician alerted police, according to investigators.
Anytime you have allegations of sexual abuse and children it's very best to get a professional defense attorney right away, says Santa Ana criminal attorney Michael L. Guisti.
Now the L.A. District Attorney has said to reporters they plan to file more charges, and it's certainly possible they may try to torture charges, says Guisti.
Authorities have only alleged at this point the substance is semen, but however they're running DNA tests to determine if they can prove what the teacher spoon-fed to the children was what authorities are really alleging, and if there isn't any conclusive proof it is semen then the prosecution is going to have a difficult time proving its case, explains Guisti.
Now what the DA may also end up doing is adding on torture charges, which is the intent to cause cruel or extreme pain for, among other reasons, sadistic purposes, says Guisti.
The problem with adding the charge of torture, Guisti goes on to explain, is one of the elements of the charge of torture is the suspect must have inflicted "great bodily harm," and it's highly debatable whether allegedly unknowingly being fed semen and agreeing to be tied up really qualifies under California's torture laws.
While sex crimes against children are a very unfortunate thing that happens all too often in our society it has resulted in prosecutors overreacting and unfairly overcharging suspects accused of these crimes, says Guisti, which is why it's best to quickly retain a lawyer if you're ever being accused of such crimes.
If you're being accused of a sex crime it's very important you contact our Orange County sex crimes attorney experts right away at the Law Offices of Michael L. Guisti so we can make sure your side of the story is heard.
We proudly have over a decade of experience winning tough sex crimes cases for our clients in the courts of Orange County, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego.
So please, call us now.



