Canada Journal – News of the World Articles and videos to bring you the biggest Canadian news stories from across the country every day
Two California teachers have been arrested on suspicion of having sex with students during two beach trips.
Melody Lippert and Michelle Ghirelli, both teachers at South Hills High School in West Covina, California, were arrested on Saturday after allegedly hosting trips to an Orange County beach where they plied students from the school with alcohol and had sex with them, NBC Los Angeles reports.
[fwdevp preset_id=”8″ video_path=”L9WATnA_dh8″]They were jailed overnight and released on bail this afternoon, after 1 p.m., sheriff’s department officials said.
They were the second and third employees of the Covina Valley district facing such allegations recently.
Two weeks ago, 29-year-old Covina resident Anthony Viodales — a part-time wrestling coach at South Hills High — was arrested on allegations of sexual contact with a 17-year-old female student.
Two weeks ago, was arrested and suspended from his job as a wrestling coach in the wake of similar allegations.
A spokeswoman for the district said in a news report the teachers have been put on paid administrative pay while the case is in the courts.
“On the evening of Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, the West Covina Police Department contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after obtaining information about the inappropriate relationships and the alleged sexual relations that occurred in our jurisdiction,” Hallock said.
Specifically, Lippert, a teacher at West Covina’s South Hills High, was believed to have met a group of male students last November at San Clemente State Beach, where she is accused of providing alcohol and having sexual contact with one of them, he said.
Several weeks later, Lippert orchestrated an overnight camping trip to the same location with Ghirelli, another teacher, and several of the same high school students, Hallock said.
During that camping trip both teachers allegedly engaged in improper relations with two students, he said.
The camping trip was not a school or district sponsored event, Hallock said.
Lippert — said to be a teacher at South Hills High — was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and posted $20,000 bail.
Ghirelli — said to be a teacher who works out of the district office — was arrested on allegations of oral copulation and unlawful sex and was released on $50,000 bail, Hallock said.
Agencies/Canadajournal
