Vallejo High security supervisor charged with solicting lewd act from student
Vallejo: Campus supervisor accused of sex crime with student
A campus safety supervisor at Vallejo High School is now a criminal defendant, accused of a sex crime, involving a student on campus.
VALLEJO, Calif. - A Vallejo High campus safety supervisor was charged Thursday with soliciting a lewd act from a student after confiscating her cell phone.
Student's cell phone confiscated
What we know:
Reuben Freeman, 36, a site safety supervisor at the school, pleaded not guilty in Solano County Superior Court in Fairfield to charges of robbery, false imprisonment and engaging in a lewd act.
Vallejo police were called to the high school at about 3 p.m. Tuesday.
"There was a concern about one of their staff members soliciting for sexual acts on a student," said Vallejo police Sgt. Rashad Hollis.
Hollis said Freeman did not allow the student to leave a classroom and solicited a lewd act while holding her phone.
"He allegedly forcefully took the phone from the student and held it against her will and deprived her from the phone until she complied with some of his demands," Hollis said.
In court Thursday, Freeman's attorney said her client had no criminal history and that the alleged victim was not a minor. Commissioner Susan Rados declined to release Freeman on his own recognizance, saying he was in a position of authority and that the student was a vulnerable victim.
A family man?
What they're saying:
Outside court, Freeman's mother, who did not want to be identified, told KTVU, "I'm hoping, yes, that it's all misconstrued," she said. "My son has character. He's a good father. He's a good person."
Aknico Heidengren, a student at Vallejo High, said, "It's shocking, you know, that he was leveraging the phone ban and all that to take her phone and threaten to take it away for the day, because that's what they can do."
Denise Cooper, Heidengren's grandmother said, "I'm horrified by it. It's like, how did he get into being a site supervisor that takes care of our children?"
Freeman is now on administrative leave. In a statement, the Vallejo City Unified School District says it is "deeply concerned about the allegations."
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, Vallejo police, Solano County DA's office
