Teacher at elite school arrested
Biology instructor at Brentwood campus is suspected of having sex with teen student.
Brentwood biology instructor is suspected of having sex with a student.
A teacher at the elite Brentwood School has been arrested on suspicion of having sex with an underage student, authorities said.
Aimee Palmitessa, 45, was taken into custody Friday by detectives, said Tony Im, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. The victim is a 16-year-old student at the school, authorities said.
Palmitessa was booked on suspicion of statutory rape, Im said. She has since been released on bail, according to the L.A. County Sheriff ’s Department.
She could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Palmitessa is a biology teacher at the private school, one of the most expensive in Los Angeles, sources told The Times. She has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology and previously taught at Penn State Abington.
Mike Riera, head of Brentwood School, informed parents of the arrest in a newsletter sent out Saturday and said officials were “shocked and distressed” over the allegations.
“The Los Angeles Police Department informed us yesterday afternoon that Upper School teacher, Dr. Aimee Palmitessa, had been arrested on suspicion of inappropriate relations with a Brentwood School student and is expected to face charges.… We immediately placed Dr. Palmitessa on administrative leave.
“As always, our primary
concern is the safety, health and well-being of our students here at Brentwood School. To that end, we will do everything we can to cooperate with the official police investigation.”
School districts in Southern California and beyond have been trying in recent years to crack down on teachers who abuse students.
The Los Angeles Unified School District last year paid $88 million to settle sexual abuse cases at two elementary schools where complaints about the teachers’ behavior had surfaced long before their arrests.
Earlier, the district paid a total of $200 million in the case of a Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of abusing students in his classroom.
A Times analysis in 2016 found the district’s total bill for such cases surpassed $300 million in the last four years.
The abuse scandals prompted the school system to better document and retain allegations against employees.
The district also focused on better training on recognizing and reporting abuse and set up a special investigations unit.
Smaller school systems have also struggled with the issue. Last year, a jury ordered the Pomona Unified School District to pay $8 million to a former student who was molested repeatedly by a teacher, including once during a Disneyland visit.
Few details were available Sunday about how authorities learned of the Brentwood School allegations.
Brentwood is considered one of the state’s highestranked schools, where celebrities and business leaders have sent their children since it opened in 1972. Its students have included actor Jonah Hill and musician Adam Levine.
According to the school’s website, tuition ranges from $34,460 for kindergarten to sixth-grade students to $40,760 for students in grades 7-12. A financial aid program is available for students who cannot afford tuition. The school has about 1,000 students and 125 fulltime teachers.
School administrators could not be reached for comment Sunday.