Authorities in Orange County on Wednesday announced they were seeking additional possible victims of a middle school teacher charged with sexually assaulting a female relative who was under 10 years old.
Christopher Millette of Fullerton was charged with one felony count of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years or younger and two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The 36-year-old science teacher at Valadez Middle School Academy in Placentia was also charged with a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child, the release stated.
The alleged crimes occurred between Aug. 1, 2012, and Dec. 28, 2014. Millette was arrested Dec. 31 after a Fullerton Police Department investigation.
He allegedly “sexually penetrated” the girl and committed lewd acts with her twice.
The victim was a relative of the teacher and did not attend the school where Millette taught, the DA’s office said.
She is under 10 years old, the DA’s office stated.
If convicted, Millete faces a maximum sentence of 19 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.
He was being held on $1 million bail.
The investigation into Millette was ongoing, the release stated. It was not immediately clear if, in announcing an effort to identify additional victims, prosecutors believed there were victims at Millete’s school.
In announcing Millette’s arrest earlier this month, Fullerton police said the case was not related to the school and there were “no known victims associated with his employment.”
Authorities urged anyone with additional information about the former teacher or who believes they have been a victim to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Kelly Core at 714-347-8794.
Correction: An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect description of the age of the alleged victim. The post has been updated.