10-Year-Old Miramonte Victim Describes Abuse, Including Cookies With 'White Frosting'
A female Miramonte Elementary School student who was allegedly fed semen-laced cookies by teacher Mark Berndt has come forward to describe the incidents. The 10-year-old is the first victim to speak publicly about the case.
Appearing in silhouette during an interview with KTLA, the girl says her female teacher, who has not been named, frequently sent her to Berndt's classroom at his request. He would then give her a cookie and often take pictures of the acts with his cellphone.
"Mr. Berndt, he called my teacher and said if he could borrow some students," said the girl. "And my teacher knew that it was gonna be the table I was sitting in because he would always pick that table. And I went there, and he gave me a cookie. And the teacher said, 'Why's she getting a cookie?' And he said, 'Because she's been helping a lot.'"
The female teacher, according to the student, never gave reason as to why students were being sent to Berndt's classroom. The victim was not even a student of Berndt's. "I thought that he was just giving me the cookie because I was nice and that I helped," said the girl, who described the cookies as vanilla with "white frosting with sprinkles."
The student told reporters she witnessed Berndt giving a student a cookie almost every day. Reports allege Berndt put semen on those cookies.
The girl's mother accompanied her during the interview and was also shown in silhouette to protect her identity. She fought back tears and said of hearing her daughter describe the alleged acts, "It breaks my heart."
Video of the KTLA interview can be viewed here.
Miramonte reopens today with a brand new staff after two days of closure to replace all employees, as mandated by LAUSD Superintendent Dr. John E. Deasy. KTLA reports the cost of the new hiring at $5.7 million, but Deasy says those costs are not as important as rebuilding parent trust.
Just yesterday, an additional 200 photos of children in bondage situations allegedly taken by Berndt were discovered on a computer at a South Bay CVS photo processing center.
Arrested last week, Berndt, 61, has been charged with 23 counts of lewd acts with his students. He's being held in lieu of $23 million bail. Following Berndt's arrest, a second Miramonte teacher, Martin Bernard Springer, 49, was arrested for allegedly molesting two female students.
Brian Claypool, an attorney representing five of the alleged victims - including the student in the KTLA video - has reportedly given the L.A. County Sheriff's Department the name and address of the female teacher.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the female teacher had been arrested. The story has since been updated.
