Music teacher arrested on suspicion of sex offenses against student
PALO ALTO, Calif. - A music teacher at a music school in Palo Alto was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sex offenses against a student, police said today.
John Root, 35, of San Francisco, was arrested in San Francisco without any trouble and was taken to Santa Clara County Jail.
Root is suspected of sex offenses over the past several months against a 15-year-old student, according to police.
Root was a part-time after-school music teacher at the School of Rock at 2645 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.
Police allege the sexual offenses occurred several times at other locations in Palo Alto.
At about 1:30 p.m. on July 13, Palo Alto police detectives received information from another law enforcement agency that Root was allegedly abusing a student.
Police obtained a warrant for Root's arrest on Wednesday. Detectives are not aware of any other victims in the case, but they are working with school officials to investigate the possibility.
Root has been fired from the school, according to school officials.
"Our highest priority is the safety of our students and we immediately engaged with the Police Department to assist in their investigation," senior vice president of marketing Elliot Baldini said in a statement.
"Our employee safety procedures require all staff and faculty to complete background checks and complete a code of conduct. In this particular case, we completed a background check and the former teacher executed a code of conduct," Baldini said.
School officials said they notified parents about the investigation and that Root was fired.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's dispatch line at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text or voicemail to (650) 383-8984.
Tips can also be sent through the Police Department's free mobile app, which can be downloaded at either bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.