Arrest of Chatsworth Man Latest Revelation in Unfolding School Scandal

Both police and the Los Angeles Unified School District have been keeping secret the October arrest of a Chatsworth teacher in connection with alleged sexual improprieties with children, the Daily News reports this morning.

Paul William Chapel, 50, who taught third grade at Telfair Elementary School in Pacoima, is being held in lieu of $2.2 million bail since his arrest last Oct. 8 on a 16-count criminal complaint, according to the Daily News.

Parents and faculty interviewed by the newspaper said they were never informed of the arrest.

"A preliminary hearing for Chapel is scheduled for Feb. 21. He faces 15 years to life in prison if he is tried and convicted," the report says.

Schools Superintendent John Deasy said this morning he had no specific
information about Chapel.

``We have 120,000 full-time, part-time and substitute employees ... The
overall majority are phenomenal people, but there are individuals, just like in
a city of 120,000 people, who do wrong things. They do things on their off
hours and then they get into difficulty and if they, you know, if they are
crimes they get arrested for it,'' he told CBS2.

This is the latest revelation in the unfolding sex-abuse scandal in Los Angeles' schools.

, 37, a janitor at Germain Elementary School in Chatsworth, was arrested Monday. Martin Springer and Mark Berndt, teachers at Miramonte Elementary near South Los Angeles, have been arrested and fired. Vance Miller, a music teacher at Hamilton High School on the Westside, has not been criminally charged, but has been named in two civil lawsuits.

You can read the complete report by Barbara Jones and Christina Villacorte here.