Southeast : School Staff Shaken by Teacher’s Rape

The rape of a 62-year-old Artesia teacher in her classroom this week has left anguish and fear among her colleagues at Luther Burbank Elementary School, said Principal Watson Omohundro.

“We’ve all been affected by this,” Omohundro said, “the whole staff.”

The woman was in a largely deserted section of the school Tuesday morning, when an intruder approached her from behind, overpowered her and raped her.

School was out for the summer, and the teacher had returned to the classroom to retrieve some belongings and to clean out her desk, authorities said.

On Thursday, sheriff’s investigators were canvassing the neighborhood around the school and following leads.

The victim did not get a good look at her assailant, said Detective Ed Dahlstrom of the Lakewood sheriff’s station.

“She covered her eyes with her own hands out of fear,” Dahlstrom said.

“He then covered her face with an item of material so that she was unable to see anything during the whole event.”

The school is in a stable, usually serene residential neighborhood.

Its student body includes a number of third-generation students, whose grandparents and parents had attended the school as children.