(John Ransom, Headline USA) A former San Francisco public school teacher was charged with 29 counts of child molestation by the Contra Costa County prosecutors on Friday, highlighting concerns that were addressed by an anti-grooming bill passed in Florida recently.
Anessa Paige Gower, 35, is now behind bars after being arrested, pending the posting of $2 million in bail, said local KRON4 News.
Gower is a former biology teacher at Making Waves Academy, which is a public K-12 school in the Contra Costa public school system, according to the state of California’s Department of Education.
At least seven minors between the ages of 15 and 16 have accused the former teacher of “numerous sex acts, inappropriate touching and shared sexually graphic photos over online platforms between 2021-22,” said the local district attorney’s office, according to KRCA.
But court documents indicate that the charges against Gower also include statutory rape, lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 and sending harmful matter to a child with the intention of seducing them, also known as sexual grooming, said the East Bay Times.
Because of the youth of the victims, the identities, ages and genders of the victims aren’t known.
However this is not the first molestation case that the public school has faced.
Ronald David Guinto, 40, is serving a 931-year sentence after being convicted of molesting 15 boys while he was a teacher at the school, said KRON4.
Guinto typically preferred boys between the ages of 11 and 12, said police, using a school camp as a device for grooming and molesting children.
The school paid out a settlement of nearly $11 million in those cases.
The recently passed Florida law would prohibit sexual material from being shared with children in grades K-3, to address the increased sexualization of curriculum aimed at students in the elementary level.
“One group of activists, for example, hosted a sex education summer camp for children last year in Kentucky called the ‘Sexy Sex Ed’ camp , which featured workshops on ‘gender exploration,’ ‘BDSM,’ ‘being a sex worker,’ ‘self-managed abortions,’ and ‘sexual activity while using licit and illicit drugs,’” said the Washington Examiner about the necessity for anti-grooming laws.
