RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Bakersfield native denies he confessed to molesting children
| Thursday, Aug 10 2006 10:10 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Aug 10 2006 10:22 PM
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A substitute teacher and Bakersfield native accused of molesting a young girl said in a jailhouse interview Wednesday that he never confessed to molesting as many as 200 students.
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Eric Norman Olsen, 28, admitted he allowed girls to sit on his lap but that he never forced them to do so, and refuted accusations he molested anyone. He said having the girls sit on his lap was more of a "fatherly" gesture than anything else.
Ontario police arrested Olsen Aug. 3 on suspicion of child molestation. He was charged Monday with molesting a 10-year-old girl in June at the Berlyn School in Ontario.
Five other girls between the ages of 6 and 10 have come forward since Friday, claiming Olsen molested them. Police said they have identified several others and are in the process of verifying them as potential victims.
Olsen is from Bakersfield and substitute taught in several Kern County districts. But as of noontime Thursday, nobody from Kern had come to the Kern County Sheriff's Department nor Bakersfield Police Department claiming to be a victim, officials there said.
Olsen chronicled his past behavior to police in a statement Aug. 3, writing that he had been removed from two water parks after ogling girls. He also wrote that he was removed from San Bernardino City Unified School District in April and Central School District in December for having young girls on his lap.
A similar accusation at Berlyn School in June prompted Ontario police to begin the investigation that led to Olsen's arrest.
Olsen told police that having a girl on his lap was sexually arousing, according to court documents. He also wrote that he allowed children on his lap about 100 to 200 times, but denied accusations he inappropriately touched any students.
At the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday, Olsen, wearing green prison garb and nervously clenching his hands, talked haltingly about how police asked him to come in for an interview a month after the June 8 incident at Berlyn School was reported.
"I went because I wanted to clear this up and close the file," Olsen said, admitting, "I probably shouldn't have had the girl on my lap."
The Ontario man said police asked him for a specific number of girls he let sit on his lap. Police said he told them between 100 and 200, with up to 22 in Fontana and 30 in Kern County. Olsen said police then started saying he molested the children.
"I never confessed," Olsen said. "I'm still in shock that I'm in here."
Ontario Police Detective Gary Naranjo said Wednesday that police conducted five different interviews with Olsen, all of which were audiotaped and videotaped. Olsen also wrote a statement. Police would not have forwarded the case to the district attorney's office if they weren't confident it would hold up, he said.
Earl Carter, Olsen's Rialto-based lawyer, could not be reached for comment.
Olsen, a Bakersfield native, said he later realized 200 students probably was an overstatement, since a large percentage of the schools in which he substituted were high schools. Olsen has taught in at least 17 school districts since 2003, in Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern counties.
Olsen said he had a good family life growing up, and attended Cal State Bakersfield, graduating with a degree in Spanish.
"But since about 2000, all I wanted was to be in the air," he said. Olsen says he has nearly completed training to become a commercial pilot.
He dismissed the significance of items police found at his apartment over the weekend, including student photos and letters, saying he had one picture from about a year ago and that the letters were from students thanking him for teaching them.
Police would not say if any material found in searches of Olsen's home has led them to other potential victims.
Olsen turned aside allegations he acted inappropriately in December at an elementary school in Rancho Cucamonga's Central School District, saying that incident was resolved. Central dropped him from its substitute list and contacted the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services, though police said they were not aware of the allegations until last week.
Olsen refused to say if anyone at any of the schools where he taught told him he shouldn't allow young girls to sit on his lap.
At the end of the interview, Olsen said he can't believe he is sitting in jail, accused of molesting children. He said his parents believe he is innocent, though his father admonished him for allowing students on his lap.
"After this, I probably won't go back to teaching unless I go to another state," Olsen said. "I want people to know that I did nothing wrong and that I will be cleared of all these charges."