Former elementary school teacher and Hollister resident John Loyd, who is accused of sexually assaulting four young female students, will appear at South County Courthouse Aug. 3.
At a July 24 hearing at the Morgan Hill courthouse, Loyd waived the preliminary hearing, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tim McInerney. The preliminary hearing is when the judge would have heard evidence in order to determine if the case should go to trail. By waiving this proceeding Loyd, 52, is agreeing there is enough evidence to face a jury trial.
Loyd, a teacher at Paradise Valley Elementary School in Morgan Hill, faces multiple counts of lewd and lascivious acts toward a child, according to authorities. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Loyd has been on administrative leave from his fifth-grade teaching job at Paradise Valley since his arrest Oct. 2, when the first female victim—a student at the same school—told a school staff member that Loyd made inappropriate contact with her in his classroom, according to authorities.
Loyd has been a fifth-grade teacher at Paradise Valley since 2008. He started teaching in the Morgan Hill Unified School District in 2000 at Nordstrom Elementary, his last assignment before he was transferred to Paradise Valley.
Since his arrest, three more young female victims have been identified, authorities said.
Loyd remains in custody at Santa Clara County Jail without bail, according to authorities.
