Authorities are searching for potential additional victims after the principal of March Mountain High School in Moreno Valley was arrested and charged in a child sex abuse case, officials said Friday.
Sean Michael McMurray, 42, was arrested Wednesday after being voluntarily interviewed by police about abuse that took place in Yucaipa, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
The victim reported to police in February that he was continuously sexually abused by the principal over two years, from 2013 to 2015. The boy was never a student of McMurray’s and did not attend any school he worked at, sheriff’s officials said.
At the time of the alleged abuse, McMurray was a teacher in the Banning Unified School District. Officials did not specify which school or schools, but the district serves Banning and the unincorporated area of Cabazon.
McMurray, a Riverside resident, most recently worked for the Moreno Valley Unified School District.
Authorities contacted the principal in Moreno Valley on Wednesday following an investigation of the victim’s claims and arrested him following an interview.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office charged him on Friday with three felony counts of lewd act upon a child — one for a child under the age of 14, one for a victim aged 14 and one for a 15-year-old — as well as two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, sheriff’s officials said.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to return to court on April 30, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The 42-year-old remains in custody on $1 million bail, inmate records show.
Neither the Moreno Valley school district nor March Mountain High School had released a statement as of Friday night, but a spokesperson told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that McMurray has been placed on an unpaid leave of absence.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives with the Yucaipa Police Department are continuing to investigate, and believe McMurray could have additional victims.
Anyone with information on persons who may have been victimized by McMurray can contact investigators at 909-918-2305. Anonymous tips can be submitted via 800-782-7463 or www.wetip.com.