Calif. teacher 'no contests' abuse charges

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A former California elementary school teacher faces at least 25 years in prison for molesting 13 students at the school.

Paul Chapel III pleaded no contest Monday to 13 counts of lewd acts on a child as a preliminary hearing on the charges was about to begin, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Chapel, 51, was accused of molesting seven girls and six boys between September 2006 and April 2011, said Deputy District Attorney Elena Abramson. All the children attended Telfair Elementary and were between the ages of 8 and 9.

Chapel faces 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors charged Chapel last fall with molesting four students. In May, he was charged with molesting nine additional students.

The school board fired him in March.

The district ignored complaints about Chapel despite several red flags in his work history, court documents allege. He was acquitted of charges in a 1997 molestation case and had left a private school after allegedly making inappropriate remarks during a sex education class.