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E-mail StoryFoothill teacher allegedly offered to trace penis on paper
| Wednesday, Dec 5 2007 11:05 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Dec 6 2007 9:49 AM
Deputies arrested a Foothill High School teacher Wednesday after he allegedly offered to trace his penis on a piece of paper for two female students.
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Tom Vincent Adame
Tom Vincent Adame, 41, was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of annoying a child, Kern County Sheriff's Senior Deputy Vince Martinez said.
Adame told two 15-year-old students he had a medical procedure where a sample was taken from his penis, Martinez said. He offered to trace his penis on a piece of paper and let the girls see the drawing, according to investigators.
"He had befriended the students," Martinez said.
On Nov. 9, school administrators told deputies about the incident.
He was placed on paid administrative leave that day, according to John Teves, spokesman for the Kern High School District.
The mother of one of the two girls said "major physical evidence" had been turned over to deputies. She declined to describe the nature of the evidence.
"This has been so hard on our family," said Brenda Arreola, adding that she is also a longtime employee of the school. "I never expected it."
Her daughter has known Adame since she was 2 years old, she said.
A teacher for 14 years
Adame teaches U.S. history, according to the Foothill High School Web site. He declined an interview request from the newspaper.
This is Adame's 14th year at Foothill -- the only school has worked at since he started teaching, said Adame's father, Tom Adame Sr. The younger Adame has also coached the boys varsity basketball team for at least 10 years, his father said. He added that his son is not married but has dated his girlfriend -- who lives with her parents -- for about two or three years.
Teves confirmed Adame was a veteran teacher.
He was The Californian's 1999-2000 All-Area Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
The younger Adame's girlfriend declined to be interviewed.
'That's not him'
Two Foothill students who described themselves as friends of the teacher said he does not fit the allegations.
"No, that's not him," said senior Felicia Payan. She said she worked with him as a volunteer teacher's assistant in summer school. "He's just really easy-going."
Payan and Eddie Padilla, also a senior at Foothill, live near the teacher and walked to his home Wednesday night after reading on the Internet that he had been arrested. Adame had not yet been released from jail at the time.
The two students said various rumors about the allegations have been circulating around the school for weeks.
Payan said she spoke with Adame about the rumors, and that he admitted to joking with a student.
"I guess they were playing around at first," she said. "He just said they were all joking."
Arreola said she "turned in" Adame.
The two girls involved are best friends, Arreola said. While the other girl did not want to step forward with the allegations, her daughter -- who was in the same room with the other girl and Adame -- spoke up because she wanted him to stop, she said.
"My daughter can handle anything," Arreola said.
'A bad mistake'
Arreola described Adame as "one guy who made a bad mistake."
The older Adame, who said he retired from Kern High School District after 36 years as a counselor at South High and at Highland, said it was not uncommon for such rumors to escalate within a school.
"Those of us in the teaching occupation, we face precarious situations in our relations with students," he said. "Small misunderstandings can become areas of controversy.
"Until all the facts are known, no one should pass judgment on anyone else. Tom's family is going to stand behind him and support him in whatever he needs."