School Principal Accused of Sex Charges

A veteran Los Angeles elementary school principal has been accused of eight misdemeanor counts of sexual misconduct with three girls at an Echo Park school, the city attorney’s office announced Friday.

Walter Chase Edmonds, 60, of West Los Angeles was named in a complaint filed on Thursday accusing him of five counts of battery and three counts of child annoying while he was principal at the 400-pupil Mayberry Street Elementary School.

City attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said the charges stemmed from allegations by three girls, aged 11, 12 and 13, that Edmonds touched their buttocks and breasts in incidents between last October and May 1. The girls alleged that Edmonds touched them through their clothing in his office, in the school’s hallways and on the playground, Qualls said.

The girls reported the incidents to a teacher at the school, who notified school administrators, district officials said.

Edmonds, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, resigned from the principal’s post and the school district on May 15, nearly two weeks after a report of the allegations was forwarded to Los Angeles police investigators.

Described by one ranking school administrator as a principal who had “good vibes with the student body” at Mayberry, Edmonds had been a principal at four other Los Angeles elementary schools since 1969. He had been principal at Mayberry since 1983. He joined the district as a teacher in 1950.

Each count of battery carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A charge of child annoying has a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Edmonds is scheduled to be arraigned June 11 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.