Prosecutors in the case against a San Juan School teacher
accused of inappropriately touching students have added charges to
reflect three more suspected victims on top of the initial
allegations filed in May. At a preliminary hearing for Joseph B.
Hudson on Thursday, the San Benito County District Attorney’s
Office filed an amended complaint that showed an increase in the
number of suspected victims to six and the number of alleged counts
to 24, according to court documents.
HOLLISTER
Prosecutors in the case against a San Juan School teacher accused of inappropriately touching students have added charges to reflect three more suspected victims on top of the initial allegations filed in May.
At a preliminary hearing for Joseph B. Hudson on Thursday, the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office filed an amended complaint that showed an increase in the number of suspected victims to six and the number of alleged counts to 24, according to court documents. Hudson, 58, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
The longtime educator is accused of 18 felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 – three charges for each of the six children – along with six counts of continuous sexual abuse, according to court documents. The amended complaint also includes special allegations with each of the counts alleging he committed the crimes with multiple minors.
Authorities arrested Hudson at his home May 14 after questioning the teacher and students. The district attorney’s office is alleging he committed the acts on or around Sept. 1, Jan. 1 and May 1, according to court records. If convicted, he could spend 15 years to life in prison.
Hudson’s attorney, Lawrence Biegel, said he had been aware prosecutors planned to raise the number of victims to five, but that the addition of the sixth alleged victim was a “surprise.”
“Originally, we had three. Shortly thereafter, it was expanded to five,” Biegel said. “(We were) going to court yesterday to formally increase (the number) from three to five.”
Biegel requested that Judge Steven Sanders allow Hudson, Biegel and others – including school personnel – to go to San Juan School and take pictures of locations where witnesses were allegedly standing and what they saw. The court has issued a protective order on Hudson that states he should not go near the school. Representatives from the district attorney’s office also would be present at the school during the time Hudson will be there.
Biegel also requested contact information from the three third-grade classes so both sides can investigate this case further and what conditions under which children might be interviewed. The prosecution will be sending letters to the children’s parents letting them know what is happening and asking for their permission to interview them with their supervision.
San Benito County District Attorney’s Office Deputy District Attorney Patrick Palacios declined to comment on the case and said he is “done” commenting to the Free Lance. His declining to comment came days after the Free Lance published stories about District Attorney Candice Hooper allowing deputy district attorneys to make final decisions on details of plea bargains.
Sanders, meanwhile, set the continuation hearing for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 20.
