Walter Babst. Teacher/pedophile caught on NBC's Dateline
Walter Edward Babst is an Algebra teacher at Bonita High School here in
La Verne California. The same high school that my oldest daughter will
attend next year. When Mr. Babst was confronted by NBC's Dateline he
said "I am a sick son of a bitch. Take me to jail and execute me."
Babst taught school for another week before he was suspended without
pay. I want to know how it is that this fucking creep is teaching 14 to
18 year old kids in my school district. I have every intention of
asking our over paid district board members how this happened and
holding the board and Mr. Babst accountable. I want ALL of the teachers
in the Bonita Unified school district to turn over their computers for
a full investigation.
District upset at notification delay
By Ruby Gonzales Staff Writer
LA VERNE - Bonita Unified School District officials are angry that
Riverside deputies took almost a week to tell them a Bonita High School
math teacher was arrested this month during an Internet sex sting
targeting suspected pedophiles.
State law says police must notify school officials immediately when a
teacher is arrested for a sex offense. While the district was left in
the dark, 43-year-old Walter Edward Babst of Corona continued to teach
classes. And officials said it was Babst's lawyer who told the
district before the Riverside County Sheriff's Department did. Babst
was one of 50 men arrested by deputies during a three-day sting last
week which the Sheriff's Department said will be aired on NBC's
"Dateline" Feb. 3. He was booked Jan. 7 on suspicion of attempted
lascivious act with a child under 14, attempted oral copulation and
attempt to send harmful matter with the intent to seduce a minor.
Babst posted bail of $25,000 and was released the same day. It wasn't
until Tuesday afternoon that an investigator from the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department's Jurupa Valley Station called the district.
"We were shocked, stunned and totally upset that we were not notified
in a timely manner," said board member Ed Jones. "I was livid."
He said the board held an emergency meeting Wednesday night and placed
Babst on unpaid administrative leave.
Superintendent Robert Otto said the Sheriff's Department should have
contacted the district sooner. "We're not pleased we didn't hear
about it sooner," Otto said. "He taught last week, all of last
week, because the district had no idea. We found out late Friday
afternoon." Babst wasn't in school this week.
His lawyer told school officials about his arrest Jan. 13 and it was
decided that the teacher wouldn't be in school Tuesday, according to
Otto. Monday was a school holiday. Jones said they also found out via
calls from people in the community who saw a "Dateline" teaser
about the sting. Babst and his lawyer from the teacher's union
couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
He has been working at Bonita High School since 1999, Otto said. All
the parents of about 160 students in Babst's classes are being
notified of the change in teachers. Otto said the principal met with
the classes and told them what had transpired. Dan Harden, president of
the Bonita Unified Teachers Association, said the association has no
comment. Police are required by law to immediately notify a
superintendent by telephone whenever a teacher is arrested for a sex
offense and send a written notice to the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing and to the superintendent of schools in the county.
When they receive the notice, the county superintendent and the
commission are supposed to tell the school board. "We notified the
district six days after his arrest. That also included a written
notification to the district and also a written notification to the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing," said Sgt. Earl Quinata,
spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. He said the
written notices were mailed this week. Quinata could not account for
the delay in telling Bonita Unified. "I can't speculate on why.
We're going to look into the delay," he said.
The sting was conducted Jan. 6 to 8 by investigators with the
department's Jurupa Valley Station. Detectives, in conjunction with
Pervertedjustice.com, used fictitious Internet profiles of 12- and
13-year-old boys and girls to chat with the suspects on the Internet.
The men were arrested when they showed up at a house in Mira Loma. They
thought they were meeting the children. Forty-nine of the suspects -
including former La Verne police officer and current Homeland Security
agent Michael Burks - were arrested on felony charges of attempted lewd
acts with a child under 14
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