MORGAN HILL
– Police arrested a 27-year-old substitute teacher Tuesday on
felony charges of suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts with a
Britton Middle School student.
By CAROL HOLZGRAFE and MARILYN DUBIL
Staff Writers
MORGAN HILL – Police arrested a 27-year-old substitute teacher Tuesday on felony charges of suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts with a Britton Middle School student.
Tras Berg, arrested at his home in Hollister, was also charged on Christas Eve with suspicion of annoying or molesting a child, a misdemeanor charge. He had been substituting at Britton Middle School as a science teacher on a long-term basis for an injured teacher.
Police said the incident was brought to their attention by the parents of the victim, a 13-year-old girl who was one of Berg’s students. The girl had received e-mails, handwritten and typed letters, poems and phone calls at home from the suspect. Police refused to comment on the content of the letters and e-mails.
The charge of lewd or lascivious acts with a child springs from allegations of contact between the student and Berg, according to Acting Sgt. Troy Hoefling of the Morgan Hill Police Department.
“He allegedly kissed her at school,” Hoefling said.
Morgan Hill School District Superintendent Carolyn McKennan was not ready to comment on the situation.
“I really couldn’t comment on this because it is a personnel situation,” McKennan said Thursday. “Needless to say, this is extremely important to us. We will not be conducting an investigation; we rely on the police department to discover what the situation is. I trust their expertise in this area.”
McKennan said Berg substituted, also on a long-term basis but for a shorter time, at Live Oak High School at the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year. McKennan said that she had no further information at that time on Berg. The district office is closed for the holidays.
“We’ll be in the office Monday, along with Principal Jim McDonald and the assistant principals, to determine what we need to do,” she said. “The greatest concern is obviously the students. We need to line up a replacement sub and determine what steps we need to take to help students. The timing, because it happened over the break, gives us a few days to make some decisions.”
Students return to class on Jan. 6.
Berg will not substitute for the district while the investigation is ongoing. The decision to terminate or retain him as a substitute depends upon the outcome of the investigation.
McDonald, reached by cell phone while on vacation, said he didn’t have many details, having received a call from Police Chief Jerry Galvin Tuesday evening.
“Not very good news for Christmas Eve,” he said Thursday. “I’m actually coming back tomorrow morning, and we’ll begin making plans. We will follow the police investigation closely, and do what is appropriate to assist the student, the family and our other students.”
Berg was booked into the Santa Clara County main jail. Hoefling said Berg was released Wednesday after posting $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Martin on Jan. 7.
