Ex-Hemet Teacher Accused Of Molesting His Granddaughter: Deliberations

NOV. 16, 2023, UPDATE: 75-Year-Old Ex-RivCo Teacher Acquitted On Molestation Charge

HEMET, CA — Jury deliberations were continuing Wednesday in the trial of a 75-year-old former Hemet school teacher accused of molesting his granddaughter.

Allan Joseph Mikolaycik is charged with lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.

The prosecution and defense made closing statements Monday, following nearly two weeks of testimony at the Riverside Historic Courthouse. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Chad Firetag sent jurors behind closed doors Monday afternoon, and they deliberated all of Tuesday without reaching a verdict.

Court minutes indicated multiple questions pertaining to the case and the law were sent to the judge Tuesday. No activity was reported Wednesday.

Mikolaycik is free on a $55,000 bond.

According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, sometime between October 2014 and October 2015, the defendant was babysitting the victim, identified in court records only as "M.M.," at his East Hemet home when he "insisted that she sit on his lap as she read a book."

"She did not like the request, but she did it anyway," the brief stated.

The victim was 4 years old at the time.

During the encounter, Mikolaycik allegedly fondled the child under her dress, touching her privates repeatedly, the brief alleged.

M.M. waited until she was 8 years old, in the summer of 2019, to finally reveal to her parents what allegedly had happened, prompted by a conversation during which her mother spoke candidly about disclosing anything that made her uncomfortable, according to court papers.

The girl's parents initially had doubts about the revelation, believing the wrong impression might have been drawn due to the victim's age. However, they later decided to contact sheriff's investigators after M.M. insisted the defendant "knew exactly where to go" when allegedly molesting her, the brief said.

Two longtime family friends, sisters who had known Mikolaycik since he was a teenager and they were young girls in Los Angeles County, heard about M.M.'s allegations and came forward, alleging they, too, had been molested by him, according to court documents.

One woman, identified only as "E.F.," alleged that when she was 7 and the defendant was 18, he fondled her in the same manner that M.M. was assaulted, according to the brief.

Her sister, identified only as "P.J.," alleged that when she was 6 and the defendant was 18 or 19, preparing for service in the U.S. Navy, he molested her on three separate occasions, pulling up her dress and fondling her privates, the brief said.

Mikolaycik is not charged with assaulting either woman.

According to the brief, when he was interviewed by sheriff's investigators in October 2019, the defendant "acknowledged that he may have touched M.M. between her legs while tickling her, but that it was not on purpose, and he did not understand why she was accusing him of being inappropriate."

Mikolaycik was arrested and charged in December 2019.

He had been a teacher in the Hemet Unified School District, though the alleged molestation occurred after his retirement, according to court papers. School district officials said the defendant was hired in 1978 and taught at West Valley High School, Acacia Middle School and Dartmouth Middle School before retiring in 2010.

He has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.