Christian High School Teacher Pleads Not Guilty To Sexually Abusing Child

EL CAJON, CA — A teacher at Christian High School in El Cajon accused of sexually abusing a child over the course of several years pleaded not guilty Thursday to 14 felony sex crimes counts.

Kevin Conover, 49, was arrested on Tuesday following an investigation into reports that he had abused a minor identified in court only as Jane Doe.

Sheriff's investigators were first alerted to the allegations in October, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.

He was booked into county jail without bail and during his brief arraignment on Thursday afternoon, his defense attorneys did not argue for bail to be set.

No new details about the case were discussed in court, but a criminal complaint alleges the abuse occurred between 2015 and 2019, with the first instance of alleged abuse occurring when the victim was 7 years old.

Conover faces up to 111 years to life in state prison if convicted of all counts and allegations, which include counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and lewd acts upon a child.

He was arrested at the private school campus, which serves students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade.

References to Conover appear to have been removed from the school's website, but in a previous blog entry on the site, Conover states, "I've been teaching Bible (defense of the Christian faith) for more than 12 years." He also runs an online Bible apologetics curriculum titled "Educate For Life" and hosts an "Educate For Life" podcast.

The Educate For Life website states Conover previously served as a vice principal for Christian High School and was most recently serving as the Bible Department Head and senior Bible apologetics teacher at the school.

Christian Unified Schools of San Diego Superintendent Bob Ruhlman said in a statement that Conover's employment has been suspended and that investigators have stated the alleged conduct did not involve the school or any of its students.

— City News Service