Gilroy Police officers arrested a 50-year-old former Hollister middle school teacher Monday on charges of allegedly having an ongoing relationship with a minor.
Officers began an investigation May 6 of an alleged continuous sexual molestation case involving Robert William Lincoln, 50, of Capitola and a female minor who is now 17 years of age who lives in Gilroy.
According to a press statement from the GPD, the victim said she met Lincoln at Rancho San Justo Middle School in 2009 in Hollister while he was her math teacher. Officers allege Lincoln befriended the victim and her family. The police statement alleges Lincoln initiated an inappropriate sexual relationship with the victim in 2011 when she was 15. The alleged incidents occurred in Hollister and Gilroy, but there is no indication that they occurred at any school.
Lincoln was charged with alleged lewd and lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years of age by a person at least 10 years older, oral copulation with a person under 16 by a person 21 years or older, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor three years or younger than the perpetrator and participating in an act of sexual penetration with another person who is under 18 years old.
He surrendered with his attorney to the Gilroy Police Department at 11 a.m. Monday and is out on $200,000 bail.
Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire issued a statement Monday afternoon stating the district was notified by the Gilroy Police Department that a former middle school teacher in Hollister was arrested for alleged inappropriate relations with a minor.
Lincoln was employed with the Hollister School District from August 2007 through June of 2011, when he was laid off in a district-wide reduction in staffing. McIntire said the teacher left the district for a period, but had returned as a day-to-day substitute. McIntire did not have the time period of when Lincoln served as a substitute immediately available.
“The teacher has been removed from our sub list, and any sub jobs have been cancelled and reassigned,” McIntire said Monday afternoon, via email.
Gilroy Police detectives continue to investigate the allegations with the cooperation of the Hollister Police Department and the Hollister School District.
“The District is assisting the Gilroy Police Department in its ongoing investigation, and it’s committed to the safety of all of our students,” McIntire wrote in the press release.
Anyone with information on the case or other alleged incidents of misconduct can call Gilroy Police Detective Rob Basuino at 408-846-0350. They may also call WE-Tip at 1-800-782-7463 (1-800-78-CRIME) to report information anonymously.
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