Same-Day Convictions for School Workers Who Molested Girls

​Remember when school was a safe place to send your kids?

Two separate convictions of school employees who sexually assaulted girls were handed down Tuesday.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office:

A Los Alamitos School District bus driver was convicted today [Dec. 1] of molesting and taking pornographic photographs of three little girls, two of whom he met while driving their school bus and one whom he kidnapped by luring her into his car with the promise of a trip to Disneyland. Terry Shields, 54, Buena Park, was found guilty by a jury of 15 felony counts and sentencing enhancement allegations for committing lewd acts on multiple children, substantial sexual conduct with a child, and kidnapping to commit a sexual offense against a child. . . . Shields faces a maximum sentence of 207 years to life in state prison at his sentencing on Dec. 24, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-3, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

A high school janitor was convicted today [Dec. 1] of sexually assaulting a special education student in his campus office after grooming her with gifts, money, candy, and cards. Luis Antonio Mejia, 50, Orange, pleaded guilty to the court to two felony counts of sexual penetration by foreign object of an incompetent victim, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a dependent person by a caretaker, two felony counts of sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor, and one misdemeanor count of child annoyance. Mejia faces a maximum sentence of 12 years and eight months in state prison at his sentencing on Feb. 5, 2010, in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. He is out of custody on $250,000 bail pending sentencing.

I can hear the voice of Mike Males, an academic who has appeared in the Weekly pages as a writer and a source in stories about media and law enforcement demonizing of young people, pointing out that both perv perps are men in their 50s.

Shields gained the trust of the parents of the two girls he met while working as a Los Alamitos School District bus driver. One girl suffered from a mental disability. Shields not only touched her sexually but took photos of her naked. His bare hands and exposed penis were captured in some shots.

On the bright side for Shields, if he gets the 207 years max, he can get out in, what, 103 176 years with good behavior? [The by-then 230-year-old would also have to convince the parole board he's fit for release.]

Mejia had worked as a janitor at El Modena High School in Orange for 12 years at the time he sexually assaulted the special ed student, crimes that often occurred in his school office while tape covered a video surveillance camera.

Twelve years just doesn't seem enough, does it?