Crime & Safety
Alleged Molester Teacher's Bail Amount Increased
He was briefly detained by a deputy when his bail was increased.
A Temecula middle school teacher facing multiple felony charges for an alleged year-long sexual relationship with a teenage girl who had been one of his students was briefly taken back into custody today when a judge upped his bail.
James Seishin Pinckard, 56, could face more than 50 years in prison if convicted of 13 counts of unlawful intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a minor and indecent exposure.
To read about the charges,
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The former James L. Day Middle School teacher was slated to be arraigned today before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Michael Rushton, but at the request of defense attorney David Grande, the hearing was postponed to Jan. 17.
However, when the prosecution made Rushton aware that Pinckard was free on $5,000 bail -- an amount too low under the state's bail schedule per the pending charges -- the judge increased the bond to $50,000 and sheriff's deputies took the defendant back into custody.
Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Pinckard was detained in the courtroom and allowed two hours to post the new bond, or else be booked into the Southwest Detention Center. He came up with the bail and was released.
The defendant, a former math instructor for the last decade, was on unpaid administrative leave until he resigned in early December. To read about it,
Pinckard was caught in November with the 17-year-old victim in the back of his van when a Murrieta police officer happened upon it while checking on an unrelated burglar alarm sounding at a nearby business, said Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez.
To read about what happened, .
The girl had attended Pinckard's math class. The judge issued a criminal protective order today prohibiting any contact between the defendant and alleged victim.
