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Writer's pictureArmstrong Williams

Fired California teacher arrested years after allegedly being found in student's bedroom

PUBLISHED: October 28, 2024 | weartv.com

MODESTO, Calif. (TNND) — A former California band teacher who was allegedly found in a student's bedroom was arrested Thursday following a warrant issued by the local district attorney's office, according to police.


The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office last week announced Patrick Mester was accused of “violation of lewd and lascivious acts against a minor.” Mester was the former band director at Enochs High School in Modesto, California.


He was fired by the school in 2021 for having inappropriate conversations with a 16-year-old female student, according to police. Mester was allegedly later discovered in the same student's bedroom, prompting an investigation by authorities.


The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged having conducted “several” interviews with the student about the incident.


Police arrested Mester Thursday following an arrest warrant from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office for “two counts of lewd acts with a minor between 14 and 15 years old and two counts of attempting to meet with a minor for lewd purposes.” A judge set his bail at $650,000.


Modesto City Schools did not respond to a request for comment from The National News Desk about the arrest.


The arrest comes as a former Michigan teacher faces multiple sex crime charges. Former Waverly Community Schools high school teacher Robert Herzing was arrested last month after police allegedly caught him messaging an account posing as a 15-year-old boy on dating app Grindr.


Herzing was charged with criminal sexual conduct, accosting children for immoral purposes and using a computer to communicate with another to commit a crime.

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