BY SCOTT MACDONALD

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

Authorities in Los Angeles County say a teacher bound and molested dozens of young students at a Los Angeles elementary school. Here’s KABC.

“61-year-old Mark Berndt was arrested today on 23 counts of child molestation, accused of gagging children, putting live cockroaches on some of their faces, and posing in photos with them ...”

Forty such photos were turned over to police by a film-processing employee in January 2011. Although Berndt was immediately removed from his job, it took a year before the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was able to arrest and charge him. The Washington Post has more on the evidence.

“Sheriff’s Lt. Carlos Marquez of the Special Victims Bureau said it was determined the children were given semen on a spoon or on a cookie. A blue plastic spoon and container found in [the] trash in Berndt’s classroom tested positive for semen, the sheriff’s statement said.

KCAL reports Berndt may have been pretending to “play a game” with the students -- and that police say no student ever reported abuse.

“Police say Berndt worked at Miramonte for 30 years, and that he committed the acts on at least 23 students ages 7 to 10 between 2008 and 2010.”

The Los Angeles Times reports several parents spoke of Berndt as a teacher they trusted and befriended.

“Parents had so much trust in Berndt, a fixture at the school, that they invited him to birthday parties and stayed in touch long after their children left his class. He was the sort of teacher who’d be invited to quinceañeras — coming-of-age parties for girls, a tradition in the Latino community.”

Both Martin Sandoval, the school principal, and John Deasy, the district superintendent, spoke out today. The two had been prevented by police from commenting until charges were filed. Here’s Deasy on KNX 1070 radio.

“It’s despicable. I’m not his lawyer, nor am I a lawyer, so I don’t have to watch what I say — I find it absolutely despicable. It’s why I removed him instantly.”

According to the warrant released by the Sheriff’s Department, Mark Berndt faces 15 years to life for each of the 23 charges.