Parents Protest At Miramonte Elementary As School Prepares To Close

Image via Miramonte Elementary

Outraged parents are refusing to send their children to Miramonte Elementary School today and are rallying outside the school this morning. The school is the former home of two teachers arrested last week on allegations of lewd acts and sexual crimes against students.

Mark Berndt, a 61-year-old former teacher at the school, was arrested last Monday and is charged with committing lewd acts involving 23 boys and girls. Berndt is accused of blindfolding his students, putting hissing cockroaches on their faces and spoonfeeding them his own semen. His arrest follows a nearly year-long investigation that began after a photo processor turned over 40 suspicious photos of the children and Berndt.

Martin Bernard Springer, 49, was arrested Friday morning and booked on suspicion of committing lewd acts upon two 7-year-old girls in the last few years. The parents of a Miramonte Elementary student are alleging that their daughter was a victim of both teachers.

Parents reportedly rallied outside the school at 7am this morning while keeping their children at home, according to City News Service. They no longer feel their children are safe at the South L.A. school and are angry about "the slow way school officials informed them of the allegations," reports KTLA.

Parents will also meet with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials to discuss the alleged molestations tonight at 6pm. The school will remain open today but will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday while the child sex abuse investigation continues.