School Aide on Unpaid Leave After His Arrest
A teaching assistant at a Huntington Beach private school who was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct after being found with a 15-year-old girl he had met on the Internet has been placed on unpaid leave, school officials announced Wednesday.
Charles Shinji Aizumi, 28, of Huntington Beach was arrested Saturday after police found him and the girl in his car in a Yorba Linda parking lot. He was released on $50,000 bond. His arraignment is set for Feb. 26 in Fullerton, Brea Police Sgt. Jack Conklin said.
Aizumi began working at the Pegasus School last year, first with middle-school students and then with fourth-graders this year, school director Laura Hathaway said. Campus officials explained to the children Monday morning why Aizumi was no longer in their classroom.
“We were all rather surprised,” she said. “We’re just hoping that people realize what he may have done does not reflect on anything happening at our school.”
After the arrest, the girl was examined at a hospital, questioned and taken to her home in Yorba Linda, Conklin said. An investigation is continuing.
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