Former UCLA preschool teacher found guilty of 9 child sex abuse charges

LOS ANGELES (KABC) - The Los Angeles city attorney announced the recent prosecution and conviction of a former UCLA preschool teacher for child sexual abuse on Monday.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto says 51-year-old Christopher Rodriguez -- who worked at UCLA early care and education centers, including the Krieger Center -- was found guilty last month of nine charges against 3- and 4-year-old children.

Rodriguez was supposed to be sentenced last Friday, but filed a motion for a new trial, which the city attorney says she will oppose.

His sentencing has been postponed to June 6. Rodriguez faces up to seven and a half years in county jail, will be required to pay a fine, and will be required to register as a sex offender.

"And this was not a simple case of inappropriate comments. Mr. Rodriguez was found guilty on nine counts of child sex abuse, including sexual battery and penetration with a foreign object," Soto said.

Soto also says her office has been able to disrupt trafficking on South Figueroa Street by arresting 72 sexual predators in the so-called Figueroa Corridor.

The city attorney's office said the crimes were committed between July 1, 2023, and December 15, 2023.