The former president of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education and two others are facing criminal charges after alcohol was allegedly given to members of the Claremont High School Choir at a holiday party.
On Dec. 3, 2022, former President Steven Llanusa hosted a tree-trimming party at his home, where the alleged misconduct occurred, the Claremont Police Department said in a press release.
Llanusa, who resigned from the board on Dec. 10, reportedly hired the singers to perform at the party. Also paid to entertain the partygoers were shirtless men, who allegedly added to the adult nature of the event.
One parent, Gabriel Lozano, reportedly told the school board that the children were “offered an open bar and to socialize with half-naked men, the dirty Santa who made disgusting comments to our children.”
“There was no school official there to chaperone the children,” Lozano added.
A few weeks after the party, Blake Taylor White, a 34-year-old Temecula resident, was arrested and faces two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor aged 14 or 15, police said. White, also known as “Buddy the Elf,” was arrested on Dec. 28 and also faces four counts of annoying or molesting a child.
He has been released on $25,000 bond.
During that investigation, Llanusa, 62, and 61-year-old Claremont resident Tandy Robinson were “identified as additional suspects,” and on Feb. 9, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against them, police said.
Llanusa faces two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of providing alcoholic beverages to a minor under 21 years old.
Robinson faces one count of providing alcoholic beverages to a minor under 21 years old.
All three are due to appear in Pomona Superior Court on March 30.
