Substitute teacher removed from West Covina school for allegedly viewing "inappropriate material" in class

A substitute teacher was removed from a classroom at Cameron Elementary School in West Covina on Friday after he was allegedly caught viewing inappropriate material on a cell phone. 

West Covina Unified School District Superintendent Emy Flores said that the incident happened sometime after noon, when a parent called the school to report that his son had called him crying and wanted to know why. 

Because of this, Cameron Principal Slyvia Fullerton went to the child's classroom and discovered that several of the students were crying, Flores said. 

"Ms. Fullerton took over the class and directed the substitute teacher to leave the classroom," Flores' statement said. "Ms. Fullerton inquired why students were crying. She spent time with students and assured them that they were safe and that the substitute teacher would not be returning to their class."

The teacher, who has not yet been identified was directed to leave the school after his dismissal from the class. 

As of now, there have not been any arrests reported by police. 

Flores said that she and school officials were working with West Covina Police Department to investigate the incident. 

WCPD Chief Richard Bell said on Sunday that the department was conducting an investigation and would provide updates as they became available. 

"We want to reassure the community that the police department is treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness," said a statement from police. "We understand that this situation may evoke strong emotions within our community. However, we urge everyone to remain calm and trust int he investigative process."

Parents protested outside of the school on Tuesday, upset with the way that the administration handled the incident. They want to know why the teacher wasn't arrested on the spot, and why many of them first learned about the matter via social media. 

"I'm doing this for my daughter," said parent Meghan Randall, fighting back emotion. "She didn't even go to school today, cause she's like, 'Mom, I'm scared.' I get it, and like, seeing this little kids come in it's like, wow. It could happen to anybody."

Superintendent Flores spoke with KCAL News on Tuesday to address the matter as well. 

"As soon as we found out we took immediate action and keeping the safety of our students is a top priority," she said. "The principal alerted us at the district office and I immediately dispatched my staff to come out here and support."

Anyone with further information was asked to contact investigators at (626) 939-8688.