The case of a former Harper Junior High School science teacher accused of inappropriately touching a former student reached a resolution Thursday.
John Anthony O’Brien, 40, pleaded no contest in Yolo Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment, according to his defense attorney Ken Moyal.
Judge Daniel Maguire immediately sentenced O’Brien to three years of supervised probation and 90 days in jail, 59 of which were suspended and the remainder of which could possibly be served in home detention, attorneys in the case said. His surrender date is Oct. 6.
Originally charged with misdemeanor sexual battery, he will not have to register as a sex offender under the revised charge but must undergo sex offender counseling as part of the plea deal. He also is prohibited from being on the grounds of K-12 schools.
Moyal said while O’Brien maintains his innocence, he elected to resolve the case to avoid the “adverse effects” a trial would have on the community where he taught students for 15 years.
As many as 20 former students of O’Brien’s were slated to take the witness stand, and “Mr. O’Brien did not want their last memory of him being in court and testifying,” Moyal said. O’Brien also is caring for an elderly parent and did not want extended court proceedings to disrupt that care, he added.
Jonathan Raven, chief deputy of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors “spent a great deal of time considering this case and spoke to the victim, his family and Davis PD about this outcome. …With these terms of probation, the DA’s Office, the victim, his family and Davis PD all felt this was the just and appropriate plea.”
The case stems from a police report made by a 16-year-old Davis boy — a former Harper student whom O’Brien mentored in recent years — who alleged that O’Brien had touched him inappropriately while visiting the teen’s home on the night of Sept. 14, 2014.
Davis police obtained a warrant for O’Brien’s arrest following a six-week investigation. Placed on administrative leave following the boy’s report, O’Brien resigned from the Davis school district in December.
Whether O’Brien will be able to teach again in the future is up to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which has not yet made a decision on that issue, Moyal said Thursday.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene