LOS ANGELES (AP) _ For decades, Robert Pimentel was a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. During that time he raised a family, coached soccer and avoided problems with the law.

But police said during the last school year, Pimentel fondled some of his female students at George De La Torre Jr. Elementary School and even a co-worker that led to his arrest this week.

On Thursday, the 57-year-old appeared in court and didn't enter a plea. His attorney maintained the 15 felony counts his client is facing are false.

``If you look at the record, before this, Pimentel has had a pretty exemplary life,'' said his lawyer Richard Knickerbocker. ``He has no arrest record, for anything.''

It took nearly a year to bring charges against Pimentel and the investigation began just weeks after the arrest of another Los Angeles elementary school teacher, Mark Berndt, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of lewd conduct involving students.

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