A former assistant principal for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) pleaded no contest to four counts of child molestation, reports the Los Angeles Times.
On Aug. 27, Steven Thomas Rooney, 40, pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd acts upon a child age 14 to 15, one count to lewd acts upon a child under 14 and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. On Sept. 15, Rooney will be sentenced to eight years in state prison under the plea deal.
Rooney was originally charged with more than a dozen felony molestation-related counts involving two students from Markham Middle School and a former student of Foshay Learning Center. Later, another student, 15, said she had been molested by Rooney.
All four students attended schools where Rooney was an administrator. According to the Times, two of the victims were molested after they became aware of a relationship Rooney was having with a student.
Rooney was arrested last year on suspicion that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old student. The arrest sparked public outrage and calls for reform, when it was discovered that in 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department had informed LAUSD officials that Rooney was suspected of having a sexual relationship with a student from Foshay.
At the time, Rooney was placed in a desk job at a non-school site; however, when prosecutors did not file charges against him, he was transferred to Markham.
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