Plea bargain reached in teacher's sexual abuse case
By Will Bigham, Staff Writer
James Andrew Megaw, 44, was sentenced to three years of probation after entering his pleas in West Valley Superior Court. Felony sexual abuse charges were dismissed as part of the plea bargain, said Megaw's attorney, Leonard Levine.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A former Upland elementary school teacher accused of sexually abusing students pleaded no contest to four counts of misdemeanor battery Thursday in a plea bargain that carries no jail time.
James Andrew Megaw, 44, was sentenced to three years of probation after entering his pleas in West Valley Superior Court. Felony sexual abuse charges were dismissed as part of the plea bargain, said Megaw's attorney, Leonard Levine.Megaw, of Rancho Cucamonga, must undergo a year of psychological counseling, stay away from the alleged victims and their families, and forfeit his teaching credential, according to a two page plea-bargain signed Thursday in West Valley Superior Court.
Megaw must "surrender (his) current teaching credential and state in writing that as a condition of the plea in this criminal case he waives and gives up any right to seek re-instatement of this teaching credential, forever," the plea form states.
The alleged victims and their families also agreed to drop Megaw as a defendant in civil lawsuits they filed against Megaw and the Upland Unified School District.
With Megaw no longer a defendant in the civil cases, only the school district faces potential civil liability, said Ricardo Perez, an attorney who represents the victims and their families.
Megaw was the head of Upland's teacher's union when he resigned his job at Valencia Elementary School two years ago amid allegations that he touched students in a sexual manner.
In a jury trial this year, five students testified that Megaw touched them during class. A sixth said that Megaw made a sexual comment to him in a school bathroom.
A jury deadlocked in May while deliberating Megaw's potential guilt on four felony counts, and a judge declared a mistrial.
A retrial in the case began last week.
A jury was seated Wednesday to hear the case, and opening statements and testimony were set to begin Tuesday, Levine said.
Megaw's attorneys previously said Megaw was unwilling to plead guilty or no contest to any crime in connection with the case.
But Levine said that because the negotiated charges are not felonies and contain no allegations of a sexual nature, "it was too good of a result to turn down."
"(Megaw is) looking forward to moving on with his life and putting this nightmare behind him," Levine said.
He said Megaw "has no intention or desire to teach."
Perez said that the families he represents are satisfied that Megaw will be unable to teach in the future.
Megaw's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson, did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.
will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com
909-483-8553
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