Ex-band teacher ‘caught in teen’s bedroom’ - after being fired for previous communication with the same victim

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A former teacher in California has been arrested after being found in a teenage girl’s bedroom after he was fired from his job for communicating with her, according to reports.

After a three-year investigation, Patrick John Mester, 65, has been charged with two counts of arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purposes and lewd acts with a minor, records from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office reveal.

In a press release, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said Mester was detained on October 23 and that the investigation into the case “has been trailing since 2021.”

Mester was arrested in March of that year and he lost his job as a band teacher at James C Enochs High School in Modesto after the city’s police department detained him for inappropriate communication with a student, a 16-year-old girl.

A second investigation was launched by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office in October 2021 after Mester was found in the girl’s bedroom by her mother.

After the March 2021 arrest, bail was set at $5,000 and Mester was released.

Modesto City Schools said at the time that they “took immediate action to ensure he has zero contact with students and revoked his right to visit our facilities. This directive will continue to be in place as the criminal matter proceeds.”

Mester had worked for the school district for over two decades, since 2003. He was at first a music teacher at another high school before starting to work at both schools. In 2008, he began working full-time at Enochs.

Officials told The Modesto Bee that Mester passed background checks and had regular training sessions on harassment and child abuse.

But Mester is alleged to have attempted to contact the 16-year-old again after his initial release.

The three-year investigation, which included several interviews with the victim, led to the charges and Mester’s Wednesday arrest.

The sheriff’s office told SFGate that the three years between the initial arrest and the charges being filed was because of “active and ongoing investigations involving our victim.”

“Serious cases like this need to be carefully built over time,” the office told the outlet.

Mester, who was born in Michigan, according to arrest records, is currently detained at the detention center in Modesto and is set to appear in court on October 30. Bail has been set at $650,000.