A former English teacher at an elite private girls’ school pleaded guilty today to having sexual relationships with two female students, one of whom became pregnant, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Joseph Koetters, 48, pleaded to two counts each of oral copulation of a person under 18 and sexual penetration by a foreign object involving each victim in case BA433370. Koetters was sentenced to one year county jail, placed on five years formal probation and ordered to complete one year of sex offender counseling. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life and told he cannot be alone with any female children under the age of 18 other than his own. Koetters, who is barred from teaching at any public or private school, was ordered to surrender on Nov. 13 to begin serving his sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Mara McIlvain with the Sex Crimes Division prosecuted the case. Koetters taught English at the Marlborough School in Hancock Park when he initiated a year-long sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student in 2000. She became pregnant but later miscarried the baby. Between February and June 2004, he had a sexual relationship with another 16-year-old female student, who reported the incident to police earlier this year. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the case.
