After a two-week long investigation, Oakdale Police arrested a Cloverland Elementary School substitute teacher for lewd acts with a child and child molestation.
Oakdale Police Chief Lester Jenkins said that Bryan Dauvergne Thies, 48, of Modesto, was arrested Monday morning, Sept. 23, after he surrendered himself at the police station.
Jenkins said police were notified by Cloverland school staff on Sept. 5 regarding an allegation that Thies inappropriately touched five students at the school. Jenkins declined to give further details.
Oakdale Police Sergeant Joe Johnson said after police developed enough probable cause to arrest Thies, detectives made numerous attempts to contact Thies at his residence.
Police were later contacted by Thies’ attorney who made arrangements for him to surrender to police on Monday morning, Sept. 23.
Thies invoked his rights and did not provide a statement to investigators.
After his arrest, Thies was booked at Stanislaus County Jail for lewd acts with a child under 14 years of age and annoying or molesting a child. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
Oakdale Joint Unified School District officials confirmed Thies was a “standard” substitute teacher for grades kindergarten through 12 and stated that he is no longer employed with the district.
A Cloverland School employee who asked not to be identified said Thies last taught a sixth grade class for the school.
On Tuesday morning, Sept. 24, an “all call” message was sent out by the school district. The message advised parents that an incident of “inappropriate actions” had occurred and the district was cooperating with the investigation. It said the teacher was no longer with the district and they would not release details of the incident.
The California Commission of Teacher Credentialing shows a disciplinary action against Thies in 2008 from an incident in Merced for “immoral or unprofessional conduct” and briefly suspended his teaching credential. Records show he was on a mandatory leave of absence due to a “charge filed for a commission of a sex offense.”
Merced court records were not available by press time on Tuesday.
