BurbankLeader: A Burbank Unified School District
teacher
turned herself in Monday for having
sex with a 14-year-old student from March to
September last year, police said.
NewsPress
Amy Beck, 33,
a sixth-grade teacher at Jordan
Middle
School, surrendered Monday afternoon to Burbank police with her lawyer, and
was being held on $400,000 bail, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.
"We're still trying to piece everything
together, what happened, where, what kind of
sex acts, how many, and how long it's been
going on," he said. "She walked in with her attorney . . . and said, 'Hey, I
came to surrender for what I did.'"
Beck,
a Burbank resident, was scheduled to be arraigned today in Burbank Superior
Court. Prosecutors charged Beck with four counts of unlawful
sex with
a person under 16 and one count of oral copulation with a person under 16.
Prosecutors will request that bail be set at $175,000, according to a statement
from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Beck faces up to seven years in state prison if convicted.
The minor involved was 14 at the time, and
is now 15, police said. It is unclear whether the student is enrolled in Burbank
Unified, but he is no longer at Jordan Middle School, school officials said.
"We're trying to do some investigating and
follow up and make sure there are no other
students
[involved]," Quesada said. "It was a surprise, and we're trying to get all the
facts in the case."
Beck's attorney,
Michael Williamson, said he expected her to plead not guilty.
"The simple fact is, until I know exactly
what sort of exposure she might have . . . it would be foolish for me to have my
client plead guilty," he said. "The not-guilty plea is her statutory right. I
can see the evidence and will have a chance to discuss the case with the
district attorney, and that can't happen until she's charged."
Beck had been teaching at Jordan for about
10 years, Principal Sharon Cuseo said.
"She's a well respected and loved teacher," she said. "We're all
shocked."
Beck submitted her resignation
Friday in a two- or three-sentence letter, Cuseo said.
"There was no explanation in her resignation letter. It was just
that she was resigning immediately," Cuseo said.
Beck taught English and social science. Administrators have a
substitute in place to finish the school year.
District officials would not comment regarding potential legal
liability, adding that such questions were speculative.
"We had no information until the Burbank Police Department
contacted us," said Gabe Soumakian, assistant superintendent for human
resources. "We didn't know why she resigned. It didn't make sense, but we didn't
have any information to go along with it."
Parents were unaware of the allegations Tuesday when they picked
up their children in front of the school.
"It's getting younger and younger," said Dan Wright, a father of
a sixth- and seventh-graders. "I can't imagine how I'd react if my son or
daughter was in that position with someone of authority -- not to mention the
impact on other students, because they'll find out."
Manuela Cansino said she worried about the effect on her
grandson and his classmates.
"They're
going to be surprised," she said. "They'll be asking questions. It's
unbelievable."
Eight Year Old Girl Given "Catastrophe Award" By Teacher
- LancesMom
on Mar. 10, 2010 at 12:18 PM