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A popular West High School teacher accused of sexually abusing one of his students will go to trial.
The teen walked into the courtroom, crying. She said her history teacher, Jose Bernardo Fanjul, sexually abused her 20 times in the classroom and several other times outside of school.
But the teacher's attorney said you can't believe what she said.
Defense attorney Ken Brown said the relationship was nonsexual, but in court the 16-year-old accuser told a different story. She gave detailed accounts of numerous sexual encounters between her and Fanjul.
She said their relationship started this spring with an innocent e-mail and then it became sexual.
She recalled sexual activity in Fanjul's classroom and in the school elevator. She said, quote, "In all occasions, he'd touch my breast and kiss me." The teen said she also met Fanjul at his house on two occasions.
She said she called him after soccer practice to quote "get the go-ahead that we were still on and his wife wasn't home."
But Fanjul's attorney attacked the teen's credibility, and when asked, the teen admitted she had lied before.
Brown said, "She lied to police officers in connection with this case and another case. She lied under oath at a preliminary hearing, where she took the same oath that she took today and will take at trial."
He's referring to the case involving another West High teacher. At a bail hearing last month, Fanjul's attorney said the girl accused counselor Marco Herrera of similar conduct.
Still, Herrera pleaded guilty and is serving prison time for having sex with the girl.
Ken Brown said Fanjul was innocent and that his only fault was trying to help one of his students. "He is a marvelous teacher," Brown said. "He wants to get back to teaching. He wants to teach at West High. That isn't possible right now, but we hope at some point it will be."
Fanjul's wife came to court to support him, but she wasn't allowed to hear the teen's testimony because she is a potential witness.
He'll be back in court next month.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
