Avenal middle school teacher faces more charges in molestation case

An Avenal middle school teacher accused of lewd acts with minors is now facing 22 counts, including kidnapping, after the Kings County District Attorney’s Office filed charges, the Avenal police chief said Monday.

Curt Meyer, 70, a seventh-grade math and science teacher at Reef-Sunset Middle School, was arrested at his east-central Fresno home Friday two days after school officials learned about the alleged incidents and alerted a campus resource officer, said Avenal Police Chief Russell Stivers.

The crimes involve three female victims, all middle-school age, during the 2014-2015 school year and this year on campus, Stivers said.

Officers searched Meyer’s home and found no evidence of sex crimes, but found an assault rifle. He was initially booked into jail on eight counts of lewd acts upon a child and one weapons charge.

Meyer, who is on paid administrative leave, taught in the school district for the last 19 years, said Superintendent David East with Reef-Sunset Unified School District.

He was booked into the Kings County Jail in lieu of $925,000 bail.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Avenal middle school teacher faces more charges in molestation case."