Retired Drama Teacher Apparently Commits Suicide During Molestation Trial
ANAHEIM (CBSLA/AP) — A retired Southern California junior high school teacher charged with molesting five students apparently killed himself Wednesday before closing arguments in his trial, authorities said.
David Michael Bruce, 68, was found dead in his home in an unincorporated area of Anaheim south of Los Angeles.
"He was discovered by a friend or another individual, and they called law enforcement," Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Braun said.
His death was being investigated as a suicide pending an autopsy, she said.
Bruce, who was free on bail, failed to show up to court for closing arguments on the 11th day of his molestation trial. He had faced a possible life sentence if convicted, but the county district attorney's office dismissed the case because of his death.
Bruce was the drama teacher at Sycamore Junior High School in Anaheim. Prosecutors alleged that he committed lewd acts with male students over 15 years beginning in 1996.
The alleged victims attended the school from 1996-98; 1997- 2000; 2002-04; 2007-09; and 2009-11, according to Deputy District Attorney Rick Zimmer.
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Bruce claimed that he had Hollywood connections and could help the students get movie industry jobs, prosecutors said. He was accused of "starting" with massages and then escalating the molestation, according to Zimmer, who said the defendant would take the students back to his residence and to tapings of television shows in Hollywood.
"The defendant basically has an obsession with male buttocks," Zimmer previously said, alleging many of the incidents included "a lot of rubbing, touching and sparking the buttocks of these victims."
Police allegedly found erotic photos of young boys in the teacher's residence. Other evidence includes a recorded phone call investigators had one of the alleged victims make to Bruce, in which he reportedly admitted to committing lewd acts.
One of the boys was a special education student who would "hang out" with his teacher at lunch, according to the prosecutor, who said the defendant gave the boy gifts such as an iPod and skateboard.
Bruce retired in 2010. After the sister of one alleged victim came forward, he was arrested in 2015 and charged with eight felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 and two felony counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15.
He was quickly released on $100,000 bail.
Bruce's attorney, Sal Ciulla, had argued that the boys were either fantasizing or were lying and hoped to cash in on lawsuits. Three had sued Bruce and the Anaheim Union High School District.
A call to Ciulla seeking comment was not immediately returned.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)