Teacher accused of child sex abuse had worked at multiple valley schools

by Kate McGinty

mydesert

Indian Wells police arrested a teacher on Wednesday who is accused of sexually assaulting a fourth-grade girl and others.

Robert Keith Bryan, 59, was released from jail early Thursday morning, according to jail records.

The investigation began in July following a report of sexual assault on a fourth-grader at Gerald Ford Elementary School in Indian Wells, Deputy Albert Martinez said Wednesday.

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“The investigation revealed additional victims,” Martinez said.

The incidents happened during the 2011-12 school year, investigators said.

Martinez did not know more details late Wednesday about the allegations.

Bryan has been employed with the Desert Sands Unified School District since 1986, according to Jeff Kaye, the district’s director of Security and Safety Services.

He taught at Lincoln and Kennedy elementary schools before teaching at Gerald R. Ford Elementary, Kaye said.

According to information on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing website, Bryan was originally issued a multiple subject teaching credential May, 1978.

No “Adverse and Commission Actions” were noted on the teacher credentialing website.

Mari Tarango, Coachella Valley Unified School District public information officer, said Thursday she could not locate the records to determine if Bryan had worked in the district in the past. She added that they would look for the records on Monday.

Bryan was arrested at his Palm Desert home at 10:35 a.m. Wednesday, according to jail inmate records.

He was being held in the Riverside County Jail in Indio on suspicion of 11 preliminary felony charges, four of them for lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and seven of them for annoying or molesting a child.

Bryan does not have a criminal record in Riverside County courts, according to online court records. A message left at Bryan’s home phone was not returned Wednesday.

He is slated to appear in court Friday.

Desert Sands Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Sherry Johnstone declined to comment on specifics of the investigation.

This article was written by Kate McGinty  and originally published on mydesert