Piano Teacher To Children Of Hollywood Stars Fled Country As Jury Decided Sex Abuse Case - Beritaja

When jurors returned to a West L.A. courtroom to present their verdict successful a kid activity maltreatment lawsuit earlier this month, 1 cardinal personification was missing: the defendant.

John Kaleel — a seasoned soft coach who has fixed lessons to the families of respective Hollywood powerfulness players — faced allegations that he sexually abused 1 of his students successful 2013.

Kaleel, 69, pleaded nary title successful 2016 to committing a lewd enactment pinch a teenage student, but later fought to person the plea overturned aft realizing the felony condemnation would beryllium grounds for deportation to his autochthonal Australia. L.A. County prosecutors past retried him and, while the lawsuit was pending, he was released connected his ain recognizance.

On Oct. 8 — the aforesaid time jurors successful the Airport Courthouse recovered him blameworthy of 5 counts of intersexual maltreatment — Kaleel slipped retired of the country, according to a connection from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and tribunal records.

The Sheriff’s Department did not opportunity wherever they believed Kaleel had fled to. Court records show prosecutors revenge an exertion to activity an “Extradition/Fugitive Hardcopy Warrant,” but it contained nary specifications about really he absconded and a spokesperson for the territory attorney’s agency declined to reply questions.

Kaleel’s attorney, Kate Hardie, said she past saw her customer erstwhile she drove him location from tribunal connected Oct. 7, the time earlier the verdict was handed down, and has had nary interaction pinch him since. Kaleel has been a lawful imperishable resident of the U.S. since the 1980s, according to Hardie. Attempts by The Times to interaction Kaleel were unsuccessful.

A spokeswoman for the territory attorney’s agency declined to talk what steps it would return to get Kaleel backmost successful custody successful Los Angeles. Hardie said her customer faces astatine slightest a decade successful authorities situation astatine sentencing.

Hardie accused the territory attorney’s agency of carrying retired a “vindictive prosecution” against Kaleel, who had already served a twelvemonth successful jailhouse and spent clip successful a national migration detention halfway aft his original plea deal.

Kaleel taught backstage lessons for much than a quarter-century successful L.A., and his clients included “Hollywood manufacture professionals and students who person pursued successful euphony careers,” according to his website. The web page boasted testimonials from the creators of critically acclaimed tv series, including “Mad Men” and “Orange Is the New Black,” who praised his activity pinch their children.

Emmy-award winning animation head Genndy Tartakovsky, who created respective celebrated cartoons, including “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Samurai Jack,” besides referred to Kaleel arsenic a “gift,” according to the website.

“I person ne'er seen my 3 children go much inspired aliases enthusiastic for thing arsenic overmuch arsenic they did for your soft classes,” Tartakovsky said, according to an earlier type of Kaleel’s business website.

The testimonials vanished from the website connected Monday, aft The Times began contacting representatives for those quoted.

Spokespersons for Jenji Kohan, who created “Orange Is the New Black,” and Matthew Weiner, the writer down “Mad Men,” some denied giving Kaleel immoderate endorsements aliases the support to station immoderate remark connected his website. A typical for Tartakovsky declined to comment. Court records show Tartakovsky’s woman and 1 of his children, a erstwhile student of Kaleel’s, testified connected the teacher’s behalf astatine trial.

“Mr. Kaleel has ever maintained his innocence and that he took his first plea bargain connected the proposal of counsel to debar a harsher condemnation should he suffer astatine trial,” Hardie said. “He later learned of the migration consequences erstwhile he was placed successful an migration custody installation for 8 [or] 9 months and faced removal proceedings.”

Hardie based on her customer was the unfortunate of a “trial tax,” which references prosecutors often seeking to punish defendants much severely erstwhile they don’t return a plea. Hardie besides said Sheriff’s Department detectives interviewed galore of Kaleel’s students “and recovered nary different student who complained of Kaleel being inappropriate.”

The alleged unfortunate successful the lawsuit first contacted the Sheriff’s Department successful 2015. The boy said he was 15 erstwhile Kaleel acted inappropriately by asking “to return measurements of [the victim’s] assemblage parts, including his penis,” according to tribunal records.

Two years later, Kaleel convinced the boy that they should masturbate together while connected a FaceTime telephone because that’s “what friends do,” records show. In September 2013, prosecutors alleged, Kaleel invited the boy complete and they smoked marijuana together earlier having oral sex.

A friend of the unfortunate besides testified astatine proceedings that Kaleel attempted to prosecute successful intersexual behaviour pinch him, but that count was not charged, according to tribunal records. Hardie said her customer had nary beingness interaction pinch that boy.

After Kaleel struck a plea deal, he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and served pinch a deportation order. He successfully challenged his removal astatine the Board of Immigration Appeals successful 2019, according to his erstwhile migration attorney, Mfon Anthony Ikon.

Ikon said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security past abandoned its attempts to deport Kaleel.

Representatives for ICE and DHS did not respond to a petition for comment.

In 2022, Kaleel convinced a judge to overturn his plea to the first activity crimes complaint connected the grounds that he didn’t afloat understand the effect it mightiness person connected his migration status, records show.

Dmitry Gorin, a erstwhile L.A. County charismatic who has tried cases successful the area for the past 3 decades, said it’s uncommon — but not unprecedented — for defendants to vanish connected the eve of a verdict.

“It’s an different situation,” he said. “But people’s behaviour could beryllium very unpredictable erstwhile they’re facing tremendous clip successful prison.”