An art teacher at South Hills High School was on leave today for allegedly posting a message on Facebook in support of two other Covina-Valley Unified School District teachers suspected of having sexual liaisons with male students at a San Clemente beach.
Sean Patrick Kane allegedly wrote on his Facebook page that the male students involved “should have just kept your stupid mouths shut and enjoyed it.”
The district’s Michelle Van Der Linden told CBS2 that Kane, a teacher with the district since 2001, is on administrative leave during the investigation, “but it does appear this is his Facebook post.”
District teachers Melody Lippert, 38, and Michelle Ghirelli, 30, both of Covina, were arrested Saturday following allegations they engaged in sexual relations with students who attend South Hills High School in San Clemente, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said.
They were jailed overnight and released on bail Sunday, sheriff’s department officials said.
They were the second and third employees of the Covina Valley district facing such allegations recently.
Two weeks ago, 29-year-old Covina resident Anthony Viodales — a part-time wrestling coach at South Hills High — was arrested on allegations of sexual contact with a 17-year-old female student.
Lippert, a teacher at West Covina’s South Hills High, is accused of meeting a group of male students last November at San Clemente State Beach, where she is accused of providing alcohol and having sexual contact with one of them, Hallock said.
Several weeks later, Lippert orchestrated an overnight camping trip to the same location with Ghirelli, another teacher, and several of the same high school students, Hallock said.
During that camping trip both teachers allegedly engaged in improper relations with two students, he said.
The camping trip was not a school or district sponsored event, Hallock said.
Lippert was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor and posted $20,000 bail. Ghirelli was arrested on allegations of oral copulation and unlawful sex and was released on $50,000 bail, Hallock said.
