San Jose music teacher Israel Santiago accused of sexually assaulting multiple students on campus
Posted on December 7, 2022 | Sexual Abuse
San Jose music teacher Israel Santiago of Morgan Hill has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting multiple students while on campus.
San Jose police said the assaults happened at the Adelante Dual Language Academy at 2999 Ridgemont Drive in East San Jose. The department’s child crimes unit began an investigation on November 7 following reports involving an adult teacher having inappropriate contact with several minors at the school.
Police said several students disclosed inappropriate touching by the suspect. The assaults happened in the school’s music and band room and involved at least 10 victims according to police.
Detectives presented the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and an arrest warrant was issued for Santiago. On Monday, officers arrested Santiago on multiple counts of sexual assault and annoying or molesting a child under the age of 12.
Investigators said the arrest was delayed because the school had contacted children’s services instead of police.
“This delay can lead to more children being victimized,” Sgt. Christian Camarillo said at a police news conference Tuesday. “It could lead to the destruction of evidence because these suspects are now aware that they are now on the radar.”
Detectives believe there could be additional victims due to the suspect’s position as a music teacher. Anyone with information about the case or similar incidents was urged to contact Detective Zanotto #3657 or Detective Gutierrez #3624 of the San Jose PD’s ICAC/CED Unit at 3657@sanjoseca.gov and/or 3624@sanjoseca.gov or call (408) 537-1381.
Persons wishing to remain anonymous may either call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line, (408) 947-STOP (7867).
Manly, Stewart & Finaldi has represented hundreds of child sexual abuse victims of coaches and employees in California schools. We were the lead attorneys helping sexual abuse victims in recover $852 million from the University of Southern California. We are also the lead attorneys representing Olympic athletes and victims of former US Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team Doctor Larry Nassar and secured $890 million in settlements for our clients. We secured a $243.6 million settlement on behalf of sexual abuse victims at UCLA.In each of these cases we have helped victims and families get justice by conducting a thorough investigation of the organization and the school . We secured a settlement of $140 million on behalf of 81 child sexual abuse victims at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. This was the largest child sexual abuse settlement by a public school district in history. In many cases we have discovered that administrators and executives know that the perpetrator was a danger to children and either did nothing or actively covered up the crimes.