Redlands High Teacher Awaits Sept. 16 Trial on Sex Charges with Student
REDLANDS – A high school math teacher who also coached the boys’ and girls’ golf teams is awaiting a Sept. 16 trial date on charges of engaging in multiple sex acts with an underage female student.
Kevin Patrick Kirkland, 57, of Rancho Cucamonga, had his bail reduced to $275,000 last month, but he remains jailed until his appearance next month in San Bernardino Superior Court.
He is facing five felony counts of engaging in oral copulation with a minor, also for distributing harmful material to a minor with the intent to seduce.
A Redlands police spokesman said an original investigation this past spring found no evidence of criminal behavior. School investigators, however, reported another possible inappropriate relationship in which the victim came forward.
According to Carl Baker, spokesman for Redlands police, investigators found that Kirkland had taken part in multiple unlawful sexual encounters from the time the student was 16 until this past March when the student was 18.
Kirkland, who was arrested in Gilbert, Ariz. and ultimately extradited to California, was placed on administrative leave in April.
His original bail was set at $2 million. Kirkland was being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to county records.
Investigators were trying to determine if there were additional contacts made with minor students.
In two related matters, Redlands Unified School District has settled lawsuits out of court on similar cases involving illicit sexual contact at the two other high schools in the city.
A recent settlement concluded a case in which a female teacher had a child fathered by a teenage student at Redlands Citrus Valley High School.
During the investigation of Laura Whitehurst, who served jail time in that case, other students came forward to claim they, too, had sex with her during her tenure at Redlands High School.
Three years ago, Redlands Unified School District settled with a family over allegations that a female teacher at Redlands East Valley High School had sexually abused a female student. The settlement was reported at $505,000.
There have been no lawsuits yet filed against Kirkland or the school district for his alleged involvement with the female student.
