A teacher at Highland High School in Palmdale made his initial court appearance Wednesday on charges of sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy enrolled in a special needs program at the school.
Bail was set at $325,000 for Aaron Alvidrez, 28, of Lancaster, whose arraignment was rescheduled to Nov. 18 at the Lancaster courthouse.
Alvidrez, who was working at Highland High as a “long-term substitute teacher,” was arrested at his home on Tuesday, the sheriff’s department reported.
“The student had disclosed to school officials that a teacher at the school had sexually assaulted him on several occasions during the month of September,” according to a sheriff’s statement.
The crimes allegedly occurred in Alvidrez’ car and in a classroom at the school at 39905 25th Street West.
Detectives from the sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau opened an investigation Monday into allegations of child molestation involving the teacher and unidentified student.
They presented their findings the next day to the District Attorney’s Office, which filed a seven-count felony complaint—three counts of sodomy of a person under 18, two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and one count each of distributing or showing pornography to a minor and meeting a minor for a lewd purpose.
