BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man working as a teacher’s aide and assistant coach at two different Bakersfield schools was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of child pornography possession and child molestation, according to the Bakersfield Police Department.
On Tuesday, Bakersfield police officers were called to Chipman Junior High School after the school received a report of “inappropriate behavior” by Adolfo Escudero-Mendoza, a teacher’s aide who worked on campus, according to officials.
Escudero-Mendoza, 26, was booked into Kern County Jail Wednesday on suspicion of multiple charges, including child molestation and child porn possession, BPD said.
He is being held on $160,000 bail, booking records show.
In a letter sent out to the community, Chipman Junior High’s Principal Tomas Prieto said Escudero-Mendoza worked under the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing program in partnership between the Kern County Superintendent of Schools and the Bakersfield City School District.
BPD’s Special Victims Unit detectives learned Escudero-Mendoza also worked for the Kern High School District as a paid assistant coach for the Foothill High School track and field program, police said.
Prieto said the suspect was immediately escorted off campus and will not return to the school.
“Based on the information available to us at this time, we believe this to be an isolated incident and do not have reason to believe that other Chipman students were exposed to this situation,” Prieto said in the letter.
According to investigators, evidence suggests there may be other victims.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the police department at 661-327-7111.
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