In this undated police booking photo released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows former Los Angeles teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who was arrested for felony molestation of 23 kids after photos surfaced. Berndt been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 10. AP Photo/ Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)
In this undated police booking photo released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows former Los Angeles teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who was arrested for felony molestation of 23 kids after photos surfaced. Berndt been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 10. AP Photo/ Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)
Police are seen at the The Miramonte Elementary school in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. A school teacher, Mark Berndt, bound and gagged nearly two dozen children, put cockroaches on some of their faces and posed in photos with them in a classroom, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday. Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday and remained jailed on $2.3 million bail.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Students are escorted to a waiting bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary school after classes Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 in Los Angeles. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Miramonte Elementary school's principal, Martin Sandoval spesaks to the media outside his school in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt, 61, not seen, was arrested Jan. 30, and remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A student enters into Miramontes Elementary School in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Deputies recommended in 1994 that an attempted fondling charge should be filed against a teacher now suspected of taking bondage-style photographs of children in his class, but prosecutors refused, saying there wasn't enough evidence, authorities disclosed Thursday.
The investigation came after a 10-year-old girl claimed elementary school teacher Mark Berndt reached toward her genitals during class and she pushed his hand away, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said.
The details of the 18-year-old case and other claims by two former students about strange behavior by Berndt surfaced just three days after his arrest.
The allegations raised further questions about why he wasn't disciplined by school officials, who have been lambasted by some parents for waiting a year to reveal Berndt was suspected of photographing children for sexual thrills.
Only parents of children identified as victims were told by authorities about the most recent investigation.
School officials and investigators said proper procedures were followed to investigate and build a case against the teacher.
Scott said the incident involving the 10-year-old occurred in September 1993 but wasn't reported by the girl's mother to officials at Miramonte Elementary School until the following January.
The Los Angeles Times said the girl realized the teacher's behavior was wrong and came forward to her mother after seeing an "Oprah" show about inappropriate touching.
School officials notified the Sheriff's Department, and the results of the investigation were sent to prosecutors with a recommendation to pursue a charge of committing a lewd act on a minor under the age of 14, Scott said.
"Based on what I read, it was a thorough and complete investigation," said Scott, who noted the investigator who handled the case has retired.
Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman, said in a statement the case was rejected because there was insufficient evidence to prove a crime had occurred. The statement did not elaborate.
Berndt denied the allegation at the time.
Earlier, two women who said they were former students of Berndt told the Times that complaints were made about his odd behavior as far back as 1990.
Marlene Trujillo, 30, said she and two other fourth-grade classmates told a school counselor that Berndt often moved his hands under his desk, near his lap, at the front of the classroom.
Trujillo said the counselor "just told us it's not very good to make stories up. She said it was our imagination. It was never talked about again."
Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy told the newspaper he was struggling to determine how the alleged behavior went undetected for so long.
"How do I make sense out of the fact that this took place over a number of years and no one seemed to know about that?" Deasy said. "I'm definitely trying to understand how someone could not have known."
Berndt, 61, remained jailed on $23 million bail on felony charges of committing lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010. He could face multiple life sentences if convicted.
Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces.
Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats in the photo sessions that were treated like games, Scott said.
Some of Berndt's students defended him, saying he was a kind and generous teacher.
Angelica Zuniga, 16, now a high school junior was in third grade in 2003 when she had Berndt as a teacher. She said he never asked her or others to do anything strange or to play any inappropriate games.
"They're calling him 'monster.' He's just not that kind of person," Zuniga said. "He was one of the most amazing teachers out there. He's dedicated his life to us and I want to stick up for him."
The latest investigation of Berndt began in the fall of 2010 when a film processor became suspicious about the photographs and turned them over to Redondo Beach police, who on Dec. 2, 2010, handed them over to the Sheriff's Department, Scott said.
Berndt, who taught at Miramonte for more than 30 years ago, was removed from classwork in January 2011 and fired within the month.
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Associated Press writers Robert Jablon and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.
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