Teacher Sought in 2 Molestations : Crime: Federal warrant issued for ex-math instructor at Willard Intermediate. Police say he may have fled the state.

SANTA ANA —  A former mathematics teacher at Willard Intermediate School has been charged with molesting two male students on campus, and police said Friday that he has reportedly fled the state to avoid prosecution. A federal arrest warrant was issued Wednesday, charging Enrique Solorzano Provence, 37, with felony unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said Lt. Robert Helton of the Santa Ana Police Department, which investigated the alleged molestations.

Provence, who allegedly fled the area April 3, was charged in an arrest warrant issued April 11 with two counts each of child molestation and child annoyance involving the students, Helton said Friday.

Child molesting is a felony; child annoyance, a crime in which there is no actual skin contact, is a misdemeanor charge. “It’s the type of case when an individual attempts to excite an individual (without) skin contact,” Helton explained.

Besides the two students, police are concerned about the welfare of a 14-year-old Willard student whom Provence identified as his son. Investigators who checked the boy’s Mexican birth certificate with officials in Mexico were told that no such record could be found. Helton said they are now uncertain of the boy’s identity, and believe that Provence may have produced a bogus birth certificate.

Provence and the youth referred to each other as son and father but police are concerned because of the nature of the charges.

“There’s some concern because of a discrepancy with the birth certificate,” Helton said. “We’re very concerned with identifying who he actually is. We’re not positive that he is his son, so we’re concerned for his well-being.

“The information that we have uncovered has led us to believe that he may be in either Alberta, Canada, or Laredo, Tex.,” Helton said. He would not elaborate.

Provence, who taught math in both Spanish and English to seventh graders, is accused of twice molesting an 11-year-old student, and of two acts of child annoyance involving a 12-year-old student.

All four incidents allegedly occurred during school hours on the campus at 1342 N. Ross St., Helton said. The boys told investigators that the encounters occurred during the 1989 holiday season.

One of the victims spoke in March to a school counselor, who then contacted the Orange County Child Abuse Registry. The Santa Ana Unified School District placed Provence on administrative leave while police began an investigation into the charges.

Helton said 60 students of Provence were interviewed by police investigators, and that two more boys came forward, claiming they had sexual encounters with the teacher.

Before he disappeared, Helton added, Provence was “very distraught” during the investigation.

District spokeswoman Diane Thomas said Provence had worked at the school less than a year, and taught no other subjects besides math. She said he was involved in a program called family math, in which parents are invited to join their children at the school for math classes.

“We are aware that a warrant is out for his arrest,” Thomas added. “It is our policy not to comment further when a matter is under police investigation.”

A teacher at Willard, who asked to remain anonymous, said the faculty was aware of the investigation for months but was asked not to talk about it. Provence had been hired last September to teach math, the teacher said.

Provence lived in a Durant Street apartment a block from the campus from January until late March, the manager of the Durant Court Apartments said Friday. He shared his $525-a-month studio apartment with a teen-age boy, possibly his son, said the manager, who asked not to be identified.

Near the end of March, the manager said, a woman claiming to be a friend of the Provence family said Provence was in the hospital and she was at the apartment to pick up his son. The manager said the boy left willingly. Neither the boy nor Provence has been seen at the apartment since.

Police described Provence as a Latino, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 145 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and glasses. He drove a blue 1978 Mercury Marquis.

A detective has been assigned full time to the case and Santa Ana police have sought the help of Texas and Canadian authorities, alerting them to the arrest warrants. The warrant charging Provence with child molestation and annoyance carries a $100,000 bail.

Times staff writer Nancy Wride contributed to this report.