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Something was off.
It was a hot July day and the classroom at Rosemead High School should have been empty. But when a security guard swung open the door to let several students in to collect supplies, she noticed the motion-sensor lights didn't turn on. A man's voice called out from the darkness, "Oh, I was just looking for some books."
Startled, the guard recognized Eric Burgess, a longtime teacher, kneeling on the floor. As her eyes adjusted from the sunlight outside, she made out the outline of a young girl who appeared to be hiding behind Burgess.
The guard whisked the students out of the room and reported what she saw to Brian Bristol, the principal. The line about books made no sense to her. Why would Burgess, who taught advanced English and journalism down the hall, need books from a classroom used for kids learning English as a second language?
Burgess later offered up another story to Bristol, telling him he had been rearranging furniture with his daughter. But that, too, was a lie.
The truth is that Burgess was on the floor that summer day in 2017 with an 18-year-old girl who, just a few weeks earlier, had been his student. The guard walked in on them having sex, I later learned. Burgess was 46 years old at the time.
When the security guard followed up with Bristol later, he told her not to worry. Burgess, he said, had sufficiently explained himself. There would be no investigation; the shifting story was all Burgess needed to return to the classroom that fall.
Over two decades at Rosemead High, Burgess went from an alum who joined the English department shortly after college to a beloved teacher many on campus referred to as the "Golden Boy." His hallway antics and videotaped pranks often captivated kids, frequently drawing the attention of administrators but rarely resulting in punishment. Burgess relished pushing boundaries and often hung out after school with his students.
I should know. I was one of them.
Burgess' class, which I took as a senior in 2006, was my introduction to journalism. I remember him as an adult version of a class clown, charismatic and eager to have fun. He was quick to help students...