Action Delayed on Job Status of Teacher Acquitted by Jury

The Saddleback Valley Unified School District board of trustees Monday night deferred action on whether to reinstate Keith Milne, a teacher who had been charged with child molestation but was cleared last month in a jury trial.

Board members briefly discussed Milne’s situation in a closed session before the school board’s regular meeting Monday night. But Dr. Dore J. Gilbert said no action was taken. He said the board would decide later whether to allow Milne to return to his teaching job at Olivewood School in El Toro.

About 40 persons, including some Olivewood School students, showed up at the school board meeting to urge reinstatement of Milne. The delegation carried signs showing support for the computer reading lab instructor.

One of the signs read: “The court was fair, what about you?�

Milne, of Mission Viejo, was arrested last October on suspicion of child molestation shortly after some of his students attended a seminar on child abuse. The female students charged that Milne had touched them in the breast areas.

Milne denied that he ever touched any of his students in a sexual way. An Orange County Superior Court jury on April 21 agreed and acquitted him of seven of nine counts against him. The final two counts were dismissed by the prosecution last Friday.

Many parents, students and fellow teachers supported Milne, and some of them held a party at a parent’s home near Olivewood School on Monday afternoon to celebrate his exoneration.

Raghu Mathur, a Saddleback Valley Unified school board member, said Monday that he had received several telephone calls from supporters of Milne urging his reinstatement as a teacher. Mathur said he had also received calls and letters from some parents who are opposed to Milne’s returning to his teaching position.

The board members on Monday night did not indicate when they will meet again to decide Milne’s situation.