FREMONT, CA - Authorities with the Fremont Police Department (FPD) announced the arrest of a teaching assistant at a Bay Area school for deaf students for allegedly sexually assaulting multiple children who attended the school.
According to KCRA, the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Brandon Duran, was arrested on Thursday, August 22nd after several juvenile victims came forward. Police said that the victims were students at the California School for the Deaf, where Duran was employed as a teaching assistant. Authorities said that Duran is linked to at least three separate incidents that occurred in various locations within Fremont and Livermore between July 4th and July 19th.
Duran was booked into the Santa Rita Jail on five separate charges related to unlawful sexual conduct with minors. According to KRON4, those charges are detailed as: Annoying and molesting a child; oral copulation with a minor; oral copulation with a victim too intoxicated to resist; contact with a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense; and unlawful sexual penetration.
According to jail records, Duran was being held on a $190,000 bail as of Thursday evening. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, August 26th. Mercury News reported that police have not released the age of the victims, however, the school has about 400 students ages 3-21 from dozens of Northern California counties.
A spokesperson for the school said that Duran was "immediately placed on administrative leave as soon as allegations of off-campus misconduct were received." Spokesperson Liz Sanders wrote in an email, "Schools are sanctuaries for learning and must be safe environments for our students. The California Department of Education and California School for the Deaf have zero tolerance for abuse or misconduct by any employee and will continue to work in partnership with law enforcement."
FPD detectives are searching for other potential victims who may have had contact with Duran. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Crimes Against Persons Detective Ana Santana at 510-513-1091.
In a separate incident, a former Centralia Middle School teacher accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in 2020 has been arrested. According to reports, the arrest is a result of an investigation initiated by the Centralia Police Department (CPD) in October 2023. The suspect, 33-year-old Natasha Nicole Polk, was charged on Tuesday, August 20th, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree rape of a child.
If convicted, the crime carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Polk was a substitute teacher at the middle school when the sexual assault began. Investigations revealed that she provided the victim with food, marijuana, alcohol, and vapes. Polk also allegedly used her "status as an educator to gain access to the victim while he was incarcerated at Lewis County Juvenile on unrelated issues."
According to authorities, Polk is accused of driving the victim from Centralia to her apartment in Lacey, where she allegedly sexually assaulted him after providing him with alcohol. She moved from Lacey to West Sacramento, California, in 2021, but allegedly still stayed in contact with the victim. She allegedly brought him to a rental she was staying at in Tacoma during a visit to Washington in 2021 and sexually assaulted him.
Investigators discovered that Polk was currently employed as a teacher with the Davis Joint Unified School District and that their first day of school is scheduled for August 26th. Court documents indicate that she was "teaching elementary and middle school students." Lewis County Superior Court issued a $10,000 warrant for Polk's arrest on August 20th.
Polk was arrested the following day in West Sacramento. In a news release, CPD said, "At this time, Polk is incarcerated in the Yolo County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Lewis County."
According to KCRA, the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Brandon Duran, was arrested on Thursday, August 22nd after several juvenile victims came forward. Police said that the victims were students at the California School for the Deaf, where Duran was employed as a teaching assistant. Authorities said that Duran is linked to at least three separate incidents that occurred in various locations within Fremont and Livermore between July 4th and July 19th.
Duran was booked into the Santa Rita Jail on five separate charges related to unlawful sexual conduct with minors. According to KRON4, those charges are detailed as: Annoying and molesting a child; oral copulation with a minor; oral copulation with a victim too intoxicated to resist; contact with a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense; and unlawful sexual penetration.
According to jail records, Duran was being held on a $190,000 bail as of Thursday evening. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, August 26th. Mercury News reported that police have not released the age of the victims, however, the school has about 400 students ages 3-21 from dozens of Northern California counties.
A spokesperson for the school said that Duran was "immediately placed on administrative leave as soon as allegations of off-campus misconduct were received." Spokesperson Liz Sanders wrote in an email, "Schools are sanctuaries for learning and must be safe environments for our students. The California Department of Education and California School for the Deaf have zero tolerance for abuse or misconduct by any employee and will continue to work in partnership with law enforcement."
FPD detectives are searching for other potential victims who may have had contact with Duran. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Crimes Against Persons Detective Ana Santana at 510-513-1091.
In a separate incident, a former Centralia Middle School teacher accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in 2020 has been arrested. According to reports, the arrest is a result of an investigation initiated by the Centralia Police Department (CPD) in October 2023. The suspect, 33-year-old Natasha Nicole Polk, was charged on Tuesday, August 20th, in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of second-degree rape of a child.
If convicted, the crime carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Polk was a substitute teacher at the middle school when the sexual assault began. Investigations revealed that she provided the victim with food, marijuana, alcohol, and vapes. Polk also allegedly used her "status as an educator to gain access to the victim while he was incarcerated at Lewis County Juvenile on unrelated issues."
According to authorities, Polk is accused of driving the victim from Centralia to her apartment in Lacey, where she allegedly sexually assaulted him after providing him with alcohol. She moved from Lacey to West Sacramento, California, in 2021, but allegedly still stayed in contact with the victim. She allegedly brought him to a rental she was staying at in Tacoma during a visit to Washington in 2021 and sexually assaulted him.
Investigators discovered that Polk was currently employed as a teacher with the Davis Joint Unified School District and that their first day of school is scheduled for August 26th. Court documents indicate that she was "teaching elementary and middle school students." Lewis County Superior Court issued a $10,000 warrant for Polk's arrest on August 20th.
Polk was arrested the following day in West Sacramento. In a news release, CPD said, "At this time, Polk is incarcerated in the Yolo County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Lewis County."
For corrections or revisions, click here.
The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
Comments
2024-08-26T15:06-0500 | Comment by: thomas
Throw the key away