Dog neglected, posession of child porn, drugs
Salinas, CA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
County: Monterey

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Raul Alfonso Herrera

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

The former principal of Greenfield Elementary School pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of possessing child pornography and cocaine, cruelty to an animal and resisting the order of a peace officer.

Raul Alfonso Herrera, 47, appeared in court with his attorney, Miguel Hernandez of Salinas. A preliminary hearing will be set Oct. 28.

At the request of prosecutor Gary Thelander, Judge Russell Scott prohibited Herrera from being with children unless another responsible adult is present. Scott also withdrew a warrant that had been issued for Herrera's arrest on the condition he post $55,000 bail, which he did following the hearing.

Greenfield police and the District Attorney's Office have been investigating Herrera since April when Greenfield Union School District officials notified authorities that Herrera turned in a laptop computer that appeared to have child pornography downloaded on it.

Herrera had turned over the computer and all other district property after he was suspended for unrelated reasons on April 11, according to Thelander.

On May 13, authorities were searching his Salinas home when Herrera arrived at the scene. After a brief exchange, police searched him and allegedly found a small amount of cocaine in his sock.

He is also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia allegedly found in his house. Thelander said the animal cruelty charge relates to a cockapoo dog found in the home whose leg had been broken and left untreated.

The prosecutor declined to say how many pornographic images were allegedly found on Herrera's computer, but characterized the content as graphic sexual conduct between males as young as 14.

He said the images were found as the district "depersonalized" the computer's settings before placing it back in inventory.

"But for the suspension, they wouldn't have collected the computer," and found the pornography, he said.

Thelander said there is no indication that Herrera ever acted in a sexually inappropriate way with any of his students. He was named principal of Greenfield Elementary in August 2004.

Case Updates

References

• « CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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