Allegations of sexual misconduct against Los Angeles Unified employees have soared since the sex-abuse scandal broke last month at Miramonte Elementary, with complaints ranging from possession of pornography to the rape of a student, according to officials and records.
More than two dozen complaints have been filed against district employees since the arrests of Miramonte teachers Mark Berndt and Martin Springer on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, respectively.
Officials say the widespread publicity about the Miramonte case heightened public awareness about sexual misconduct and prompted conversations about what is and isn't appropriate in a school setting.
"I think you're seeing more vigilance, that it's come on people's radar," said Earl Perkins, assistant superintendent of school operations. "They're saying to themselves, `Maybe this is right, and maybe it isn't."'
Using iStar, a computerized reporting and tracking system he implemented in April 2010, Perkins compiled a report comparing the numbers of sexual misconduct complaints filed against Los Angeles Unified employees.
From Jan. 16-20 - before Berndt was arrested on suspicion of molesting 23 of his students - the district received no such complaints.
Perkins said the district received just one complaint from Jan. 23-27 - an allegation of verbal harassment.
But during the week after Berndt's arrest on Monday, Jan. 30, the district received nine complaints alleging
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sexual improprieties against district employees. Sixteen more were filed Feb. 6-10, including eight alleging the incidents occurred one to three years earlier.
According to a separate report prepared by Perkins, one of the complaints filed alleged the rape of a student.
That secondary report also said the district had received two complaints of employees possessing pornography and three alleging a sexual relationship with a child. Five were classified simply as inappropriate sexual behavior, which Perkins said could be something like staring at a girl's
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