Crime & Safety

Teacher's Molestation Trial Nears Year Mark

The former substitute teacher in Temecula and Murrieta schools allegedly had oral sex with a child younger than 14 years.

An end is in sight for the nearly year-old trial of a former substitute teacher accused of molestation.

The judge ordered the jury trial to start by July 8 after scheduling problems with attorneys threatened to put it off until after August.

“That would be over a year this was in trial status, that’s unacceptable,” Judge Kelly L. Hansen said during a hearing on Friday. “The people will have to make different accommodations.”

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The trial officially started for Daniel James Oberg, 50, on August 10, though he was arrested Oct. 8, 2009.

The day of the arrest, Oberg was scheduled to work at a Temecula school, said Melanie Norton, spokesperson for the Temecula Valley Unified School District.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He also worked in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, substitute teaching at schools including Shivela Middle School. At the time of Oberg's arrest, district spokesperson Karen Parris confirmed he'd worked three days since the start of the 2009-2010 school year.

The Temecula district took his name off its list of substitute teachers immediately after the arrest, Norton said. Parris also confirmed his name was removed from the Murrieta district's list following his arrest.

The incident had nothing to do with students in the Temecula district, Norton said. Sheriff’s officials declined to give any more information about the incident.

Oberg taught at six Temecula schools a total of 10 times before being arrested. The school district does background checks on all its substitutes, according to Norton.

City News Service and Maggie Avants contributed to this report.


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