A former Southern California music teacher accused of distributing semen-tainted flutes to five elementary school girls in 2017, has been sentenced to spend 18 years in prison after pleading guilty last week, the California Attorney General's office announced this week.
John Zeretzke, 61, of Ventura, was known as the founder of an international music program, Flutes Across the World, and had worked at the Music Center of Los Angeles for 30 years, was indicted after the U.S. Postal Service and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department conducted an investigation into several reports of the tainted flutes in 2017.
Prosecutors say that Zeretzke recorded himself contaminating the flutes before giving the instruments to the victims. He was also accused of trying to solicit "sexually explicit messages" from another minor, the attorney general's office said. Zeretzke is also alleged to have traveled to the Philippines with the intent in engaging in illicit sexual contact with minor victims.
“There is no place in our society for crimes against children,” said Attorney General Becerra. “We will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our schools or anywhere in our state. Our students deserve to be able to learn in a safe environment and we’ll continue to use the full authority of the law to prosecute anyone who exploits children.”