A teacher who was fired from a California high school more than three years ago for allegedly having an “inappropriate” relationship with a teenage girl now faces charges.
Patrick John Mester, 65, was sacked from James C. Enochs High School in Modesto, Calif., in March 2021 and was charged this month with committing lewd acts with a minor between 14 and 15 years old and for attempting to meet with a minor for lewd purposes.
Modesto City Schools said in a statement that it “took immediate action to ensure he has zero contact with students, as well as revoked his right to visit our facilities,” the Modesto Bee reported after he was fired.
Mester, who was also a band leader at the school, completed all pre-employment requirements, including fingerprint clearance and background checks, and even received annual training on harassment and child abuse reporting, the district said.
However, seven months after being fired, the mother of the same student allegedly found Mester in her daughter’s bedroom, SFGate reported.
Following a three-year probe by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s offices, which involved several interviews with the teen, Mester was arrested on Oct. 23.
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“Serious cases like this need to be carefully built over time,” the sheriff’s office told SFGate, explaining the lengthy delay in bringing forward charges was due to “active and ongoing investigations involving our victim.”
Mester had worked in the school district since 2003 and was employed by two different high schools as a music teacher over the course of his tenure.
He is being held at the sheriff’s detention center in Modesto and is due in court on Thursday. His bail is set at $650,000.