Church choir director charged with four felonies in lewd acts case

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Prosecutors filed criminal charges today against a 53-year-old church choir director who allegedly committed lewd acts with a 15-year-old girl.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office charged Mark William Michaels of Upland with four counts of committing lewd acts with a child.

Micheals is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning in West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

He remains jailed today in lieu of $50,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to online booking records.

Michaels was arrested at about 9 a.m. Sunday after a Montclair police officer saw him and the girl committing lewd acts in a parked car, according to a news release.

The car, a white 2005 Dodge Stratus, was parked in an alley behind businesses on the west side of the 10200 block of Central Avenue, said Montclair police Lt. Jason Reed.

Michaels is a director of the choir at Bethany Baptist Church, 9950 Monte Vista Ave. in Montclair, and the girl is in the choir, Reed said.

Michaels and the girl met two years ago at the church, Reed said.