Tracy Sub Charged with Molesting Students

Tracy police arrested Jesse Llorente III, 39, on Thursday. He's charged with eight counts of felony lewd conduct with a child and one count of possessing child pornography. Llorente is in custody at San Joaquin County Jail and being held on $750,000 bail.

In late February while Llorente was a substitute teacher at George Kelly Elementary, he allegedly victimized eight girls in the course of just two days, according to Tracy police.

"Some of the girls in class were uncomfortable in the way he was touching them. He was stroking their hair, touching their ears and rubbing their shoulders," said Sgt. Tony Sheneman of the Tracy Police Department. He said when their regular teacher returned to class, the students told the teacher what happened.

It's unclear if Llorente is suspected of other sexual misconduct with the students that would rise to the level of felony crimes. The touching Sheneman described would generally be charged as a misdemeanor. He would only say the charges filed in the arrest were reviewed by the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office.

The classes where Llorente was substitute teaching were fifth and sixth grade, he said. Sheneman said there's increased concern because in the past, Llorente also taught at schools in San Jose and Los Angeles. Tracy police have notified those school districts about the current allegations, Sheneman said.

There were no prior complaints of Llorente's actions, including during January when he was subbing at George Kelly Elementary, according to Sheneman. Llorente is not a registered sex offender. It's unknown what type of teaching credential, if any, Llorente has.

When a search warrant was served at his parents' house where Llorente lives on Ramona Way in Tracy, police apparently found child pornography on his computer. Sheneman said detectives found "more than 20 images" of child pornography.

Parents have high praise for the way the school and district handled the incident. "The school did one heck of a job notifying me and the police department by letting me know," said a parent named Mike, who wanted only his first name used. His remark was followed by applause at a meeting late Thursday afternoon between administrators and parents at the school.

George Kelly Principal Khushwinder Gill said she released Llorente from his classroom the moment she heard students concerns and taught the class the rest of the day. "I told the kids, I said, to me, it doesn't matter if you walk out of the middle of the class. If you ever feel uncomfortable, you come and talk to me, talk to the teacher right away."

More updates will be posted on news10.net as details become available.