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A popular teacher at Salt Lake's West High School was arrested for unlawful sexual activity with a student. The man taught social studies and world languages and even appeared on our "Talking Point" segment Monday.
Police arrested Jose Bernardo Fanjul, 45, at West High after school Tuesday. None of the students even knew he had been arrested. The news came as a shock because Fanjul is one of the most well-liked teachers there.
Student Joel Organasta said, "He's very popular. All the people I know, know him."
For three years Fanjul was a familiar face in the halls of West High. Students say he was a teacher and a friend. Uatesoni Olive, a student at the school, said, "He was really friendly, really nice, really honest guy."
But police say Fanjul crossed the line with one student. Jail documents say he engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl between March and July of this year. She told police they had numerous sexual encounters after hours at West High and at other places. Police say they're working with her and her father.
Organasta said, "It's very shocking and disappointing to me." More so, he says, because Fanjul is one of his favorite teachers. Organasta is in his "Spanish for Native Speakers" class. "He treats us like his children because we're all from Latin America, so we're kind of like a big family," Organasta said.
Fanjul is a nationally recognized teacher. Last Halloween, the U.S. Department of Education surprised Fanjul, dressed as Puss & Boots, as the American Star of Teaching from Utah. The award honors teachers making a difference.
Fanjul has also appeared on Eyewitness News, once in 2006 to warn Utah Latinos about a scam targeting their community; then again just Monday, on Eyewitness News at 6:30. Fanjul highlighted his lesson plan on the September 11th terrorist attacks. Fanjul said, "I teach it in the context that this is something that's happening in the world nowadays, and this is how we deal with it."
Organasta says Fanjul showed part of the Talking Point segment in their class Tuesday morning. He had no idea that by the end of the school day, his teacher would make the news again, for this.
"Everybody knows him, and he doesn't look like someone that would do that," Organasta said.
Fanjul was arrested on multiple counts of forcible sexual abuse and forcible sodomy. The school district says he is on paid administrative leave.
Earlier this week, a former West High School guidance counselor was sentenced to prison for having sex with a 14-year-old female student.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
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