Principal Of Creative Frontiers School Arrested In Molest Case
CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) -- The principal of a Citrus Heights private elementary school was arrested Wednesday after a lengthy investigation into charges that he fondled seven young girls over the past 15 years, often taking them onto his lap when they visited his office.
Robert Benson Adams, 60, faces six felony counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on children under 14 and one misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child under 18, according to a criminal complaint filed in Sacramento County Superior Court.
The girls, who were 4 to 7 years old at the times of the reported abuse, told investigators that the principal known to students as "Mr. Bob," pulled them onto his lap when they visited his office, and touched their breasts, buttocks and vaginal areas.
The complaint also cites two teachers at Creative Frontiers School who reported inappropriate behavior, including preschool teacher April Thompson, who told investigators that she returned from lunch one day in June and found Adams lying on a mat next to a 4-year-old girl during naptime.
The next day, the girl's parents told Thompson the girl said Adams had touched her private areas, according to the complaint. A phone message left with Thompson, who was still listed as a teacher on the school's website at the time of its closure, was not immediately returned.
Adams suffered a medical condition as he was being arrested at his Folsom home Wednesday morning shortly after 7 and was taken to a Mercy San Juan, Citrus Heights Police Chief Christopher Boyd said.
Adams ran the Creative Frontiers School from its opening in 1975 until authorities shut it down in July amid allegations that he touched young girls under their clothes.
A complaint filed by the California Department of Social Services alleged that Adams would "seclude female children under a computer desk and lie down with them on a mat in his office."
The complaint said a volunteer at the school, Irma Mertens, had witnessed Adams slip his hand under the bathing suit of a female and sodomize her with his thumb. It also said an office administrator, Cynthia Higgins, knew about the allegations but failed to report them to authorities.
State officials revoked the school's daycare license in July and the city of Citrus Heights suspended its business license. It did not reopen this fall.
At a press conference a few days after the school was closed, Adams said he was shocked by the allegations and declared his innocence.
"But I assure you, I am very confident that nothing inappropriate has happened," he said then.
Since the school was closed, parents have rallied around the principal and the school.
Lisa Lambert, whose 10-year-old daughter would have started fifth grade at the school this fall, said she never suspected and doesn't believe that Adams molested children.
"I would trust this man with my daughter, absolutely, 100 percent," she told CBS13.
As to the other students' allegations, she said "obviously I'm not going to tell you they're lying, who am i to judge? I'm not them, not their parent. All I can speak to is who we know now. My radar is very high when it comes to my daughter and who is around my daughter."
Boyd called the case highly unusual and said it was handled "quite well, given the circumstances."
"Our hearts go out to all the children and the families of this school, not just the victims, but all the families," Boyd said. "We fully recognize that the events surrounding the school have disrupted families' lives."
About 180 students in preschool through sixth grade attended Creative Frontiers School before it was shuttered. Tuition for a full year was $6,507, according to the school's website.
Boyd said several witnesses have come forward and the police investigation is continuing.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
