An ex-elementary school teacher in Los Angeles, Calif. has pleaded no contest to charges of molestation with at least 20 of his students.
Mark Berndt allegedly blindfolded the children in his class and fed them cookies with a spoon that had been laced with his semen.
The story behind these so-called "tasting games" surfaced three years ago, after a photo lab technician processed some strange pictures submitted by Berndt that depicted groups of blindfolded children. After the technician reported what they'd seen in the photographs to authorities, an investigation into the classroom was conducted. Detectives uncovered a plastic spoon in the trash can of Berndt's classroom that contained traces of his semen, the Associated Press reported.
Berndt made a court appearance on Thursday, and requested the legal equivalent of a guilty plea in response to his 23 charges on molestation, according to a source close to the case who spoke to AP on conditions of anonymity. If a plea agreement is reached, Berndt could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Parents of the students have also lodged law suits against the Los Angeles Unified School District for neglecting to keep their children safe from Berndt.
The district's practices were called into question in the wake of the case, since previous accusations against Berndt's questionable acts were largely untouched by the administration. The LAUSD has allegedly been forced to shell out tens of millions of dollars in settlements.
Berndt's arrest also prompted an enormous overhaul at the school, where all 76 of its teachers, in addition to staff and administrators, were put on leave. At the start of the new school year six months later, 43 of the teachers came back to a completely changed Miramonte with a new principal, AP reported.
Another Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, was charged in 2009 with performing lewd acts on a child. Authorities said the former instructor fondled a second-grader in class.
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