Quick Take:
The teacher, 41-year-old Trung Lai, has worked at Pacific Collegiate School since 2013. He is due for arraignment on Wednesday at 8:15 a.m.
Santa Cruz Police charged Pacific Collegiate School math teacher Trung Lai, 41, with attempted rape of a 17-year-old PCS student after arresting him on Friday.
“On June 28th, 2024, Mr. Lai had arranged to meet with the student off campus to engage in lewd acts, which was when he was taken into custody by Santa Cruz PD Detectives,” police wrote in a press release Monday. He was arrested at Meder Street Park, or University Terrace Park, located near the intersection of Meder Street and Bay Drive.
Police say he also “engaged in grooming behavior of a student over the past couple of months.”
Lai was taken into Santa Cruz County main jail Friday and he has since been released on bail, according to Santa Cruz Police Deputy Chief Jon Bush. Pacific Collegiate School officials are cooperating with SCPD investigators to support the investigation.
PCS Head of School Maria Reitano told Lookout the school community “is shocked and saddened” to learn of his arrest.
“As student safety and well-being are priorities for our school, PCS is fully cooperating with law enforcement investigating these serious allegations,” she wrote via email. “Mr. Lai will not be returning to the classroom in August.”
She added that the school has “no independent information as to any of the underlying facts supporting Mr. Trung’s arrest.”
Bush said the investigation is almost complete and that the department is still processing some evidence.
“The school will do their own investigation to determine what they want to do with the employee,” said Bush. “We’re going to see if there are potentially any more victims but for the most part, our investigation is completed.”
Lai was charged with one count of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, related to Friday’s arrest. Related to alleged offenses over the past couple months he faces one count each of annoying/molesting a victim under 18 and communication/arranging to meet with a minor for the purposes of sexual or lewd activity.
Lai, a math teacher, moved to Santa Cruz to teach in 2013, according to the school website. Prior to Santa Cruz, he earned a computer science degree from Stanford University and worked for a videogame studio in Ventura.
Court records show his arraignment is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday.