Malia Jen Brooks, 32, 6th-grade teacher at Garden Grove Elementary School, Simi Valley Unified School District, Simi Valley, California, "sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student" ABC Local KABC: Simi Valley teacher arrested; held on $2M bail (June 12 2013) Garden Grove Elementary School teacher Malia Brooks, 32, has been arrested and her bail was set at $2 million. The arrest comes three months after allegations first surfaced at the school. Simi Valley police announced they arrested a teacher for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student, but they would not confirm that it is Brooks connected to that specific case. Tags:
Ventura County Star: Former Simi Valley elementary teacher arrested in sex crimes against minor (June 12 2013) Malia Brooks, 32, was arrested on allegations of lewd acts upon a child and four other sex-related counts, including one in which the title of the charge says it involved a person under the age of 14, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. As of Tuesday night, she was still jailed on $2 million bail, authorities said ... Brooks was placed on administrative leave earlier this year while police and school officials investigated claims the Garden Grove Elementary School IMPACT Academy teacher had had an inappropriate relationship with a student.
KTLA: Former Simi Valley Teacher Accused of Sex with Student (June 13 2013) Malia Brooks, 32, was arrested on Tuesday on allegations of lewd acts on a child and four other sex-related counts, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. The title of one of the charges indicated that it involved a minor under the age of 14 ... School district officials notified authorities about the allegations on Feb. 22, police said. The alleged acts had occurred in the past four months. Brooks was placed on administrative leave while police and school officials investigated the allegations, [school board President Rob] Collins told the Star. She subsequently resigned and was no longer working in the district, he said.
L.A. Times: Former grade school teacher accused of sexual relationship with student (June 12 2013) Malia Brooks, 32, who worked at Garden Grove Elementary, was arrested by Simi Valley police Tuesday on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a child under 14 years old, KTLA reported. She was being held in lieu of $2-million bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department records show.
CBS Local Los Angeles: Simi Valley Teacher Arrested For Lewd Acts With A Student Under 14 (June 13 2013) Allegations of the inappropriate relationship first surfaced in late February and involved a female teacher and a male student, Simi Valley police said. Officials allege the relationship took place over a four month period beginning in late 2012. At the time, letters were sent home to parents alerting them that a police investigation was underway. Brooks was not identified at the time because charges had not been filed; however the Simi Valley Unified School District board president confirmed to the Ventura Star that the 32-year-old was the suspect arrested.
UK Daily Mail: Mother-of-two elementary school teacher, 32, is charged with performing sex acts on boy under the age of 14 (June 12 2013) Malia Brooks is being held on $2million bail in California as she is considered a flight risk Malia Brooks, 32, surrendered at Simi Valley police station in California on Tuesday after it was alleged that she had been having sexual relations with a male student at her school. The divorced mother of a young boy and girl is being held on $2million bail after prosecutors dubbed her a flight risk. She pleaded not guilty when she was arraigned on Wednesday at Ventura County Superior Court. The 32-year-old has been charged with one count of a lewd act upon a child, one count of oral copulation of a person under 14 and three counts of genital penetration by a foreign object with a person under 14 years of age when the suspect is more than 10 years older than the victim.
NBC Los Angeles: Ex-Sixth-Grade Teacher Arrested for Lewd Acts With Student in Simi Valley (June 12 2013) A former elementary school teacher in Simi Valley pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges related to an alleged sexual relationship with a student under age 14. The arrest of Malia Brooks, 32, was announced by the Simi Valley Police Department on Tuesday evening ... The sole alleged male victim was a student at the school, but officials would not say if he was in Brooks’ classes ... Simi Valley police said they were alerted to the alleged inappropriate relationship on Feb. 22 by school officials, who said the conduct had been going on for several months. School officials would not say how they found out about the relationship.
Inquisitr: Simi Valley Teacher Arrested, Accused Of Lewd Acts With A Minor (June 12 2013) A former Simi Valley teacher was arrested this week for having a sexual relationship with a student under the age of 14. Malia Brooks, 32, plead not guilty this morning at the Ventura County Superior Court in California ... Broosk attorney Ron Bamieh said at the hearing today that his client, who is being held on $2 million bail, suffered from a mental illness. Bamieh said: “(Brooks) has suffered from a mental illness. We’ve had her diagnosed and she’s in treatment … My guess is a lot of the charges precipitated from that illness.”
Mercury News: Ex-Simi Valley elementary teacher pleads not guilty to having sex with male student (June 12 2013) Malia Jen Brooks was arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court on five molestation charges related to an "inappropriate relationship" with the unidentified boy. A 32-year-old woman described as an "exemplary teacher" at Garden Grove Impact Academy in Simi Valley pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that she had a sexual relationship with a male student at the elementary school, officials said.
International Business Times: Simi Valley Teacher Arrested 2013: Malia Brooks Accused Of Having Sexual Relationship With Garden Groves Student (June 12 2013) A Simi Valley, Calif., elementary school teacher has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student who was under the age of 14. Malia Brooks was being held on $2 million bail Wednesday, the Simi Valley police department reported. The sixth grade teacher from Garden Grove Elementary School IMPACT Academy turned herself over to authorities on Tuesday, CBS Los Angeles reported. Garden Grove has grades kindergarten through 6, but authorities wouldn’t release the name of the child or say if the child was one of Brooks’ students.
Newsmax: Simi Teacher Arrested, Accused of Sexual Relationship with Student (June 12 2013) Malia Brooks, 32, who taught sixth grade at Garden Grove Elementary School since 2004, faces several charges in her arrest: one charge of lewd act upon a child, one count of oral copulation of a person under 14, and three counts of genital penetration by a foreign object with a person under 14 years of age when the suspect is more than 10 years older than the victim.
KABC: Simi Valley Teacher Arrested on Sex Charges, Attorney Claims Mental Illness (June 12 2013) Brooks turned herself in on Tuesday under a negotiated arrest, and was charged Wednesday of having a sexual relationship with young boy at the school. The district would not say if he was a student in Brooks' class. Brooks was charged with one count of a lewd act upon a child, one count of oral copulation of a person under 14, and three counts of genital penetration by a foreign object with a person under 14 years of age when the suspect is more than 10 years older than the victim ... Outside the courtroom Wednesday, attorney Ron Bamieh said his client "suffers from a mental illness.
There were tons of updates to post, but since she did an about face & plead guilty, most of them are moot. So let's see what's left ...
Ventura County Star: Former Simi teacher pleads guilty to having sex with a student (June 13 2013) Malia Brooks, a former Simi Valley sixth-grade teacher, pleaded guilty Thursday to having a sexual relationship with a student just two days after being arrested as her attorney attributed the crime to her suffering a "manic episode."
Kpop Starz: Simi Valley Teacher Takes Plea Deal: Guilty For Sex Acts Including Oral Copulation With Boy Under 14 (June 13 2013) A former elementary school teacher from Simi Valley arrested for perfoming sex acts on a young boy, accepted a plea deal with prosecutors Thursday. Malia Brooks, 32, plead guilty to three counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14 ... The Semi Valley teacher could get a maximum of 16 years in prison, pay restitution and spend the rest of her life as a registered sex offender when she's sentenced in August.
Daily Bulletin: Ex-Simi Valley teacher changes plea, admits to relationship with male student (June 13 2013) Daily News: Ex-Simi Valley teacher changes plea, admits to relationship with male student (June 13 2013) In a deal struck with prosecutors, a former Simi Valley teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to having a sexual relationship with a male student at the elementary school where she worked for eight years, officials said. Malia Brooks, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a lewd act with a child under 14, and admitted to the special enhancement of substantial sexual conduct, according to court documents ... Judge Kevin McGee indicated during Thursday's hearing that he'll sentence the defendant to just six years, Meister said. Defense attorney Ron Bamieh said Brooks developed a relationship with the boy during a "manic episode" triggered by memories of being abused as a teenager while living in the Sudan with her missionary parents.
Simi Valley Acorn: Former teacher sentenced to six years for sex crime (Sept 27 2013) Malia Brooks, a former teacher at Garden Grove Elementary School Impact Academy who pled guilty to lewd acts with a student, was sentenced today to six years in state prison with no option for parole. Brooks faced a maximum of 12 years in prison, but at Ventura County Superior Court this morning, Judge Kevin McGee imposed the six-year sentence because of the “uniqueness” of the case and the fact there were no additional victims. Brooks will also be required to pay restitution to the victim’s family, a $2,000 fine and provide a blood sample for DNA testing in the case. Once she is finished with her sentence, Brooks will be on parole for five years. ...Michele Finseth, Brooks' mother, spoke next and said her daughter suffered a severe mental breakdown toward the end of last year resulting from a possible rape she experienced 17 years ago in Sudan. When Brooks was younger, she and her family were Christian missionaries and traveled all over the world. At the end of last year, Brooks began to retreat from her family as she tried to deal with what happened to her when she was young. At the request of her mother, Brooks began therapy sessions in August 2012, and continued them until shortly before she was arrested on June 11.
