By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
Two married teachers have been arrested on charges of having unlawful sex, sodomy and oral copulation with a 17-year-old male high school student.
According to the Westminster Police Department, Daniel Alma Shephard, 62, and Gay Davidson-Shephard, 59, are accused of plying the victim, whose name was not released because he was juvenile at the time of the alleged crime, with regular trips to their Huntington Beach home and providing him with alcohol, meals and movies.
Shephard, of Huntington Beach, was a Westminster High School biology teacher.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years if convicted for two felony counts of oral copulation of a minor, one felony count of sodomy with a person under 18-years-old, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Davidson-Shephard, was a teacher at Mesa View Middle School in Huntington Beach and is charged with three felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy with a person under 18-years-old, oral copulation of a minor and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
If convicted, she faces a maximum of eight years and four months in state prison.
Both defendants are being held on $150,000 bail, which was posted today.
The arraignment has been scheduled for May 19 at 9 a.m. in department W-15 of the West Justice Center in Westminster.
The victim is believed to have made the acquaintance of Daniel Shephard while at Westminster High School.
The invitations to the Shephards’ home are thought to have begun in March 2009. In April 2009, the couple are accused of sexually assaulting the victim for the first time. According to prosecution, weekly visits to the Shephards’ home began in April 2009.
Shephard is accused of assaulting the victim until September 2009 and Davidson-Shephard is accused of assaulting the victim until December 2009.
Shephard is also accused of asking the victim to email him nude photos of himself and of taking photographs of the teen and the illegal sex acts.
The victim turned 18 in December 2009, so further sexual interaction between him and the couple cannot be criminally charged after that point.
According to the Westminster Police Department, the victim revealed the information about the abuse to his mother in March 2011.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Westminster Police Department are seeking potential additional victims in this case. Anyone with information or believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact WPD detective Michael Nguyen at (714) 548-3247 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Guttierrez at (714) 347-8794.
