More than a dozen Cal High students were shocked to learn that their former fourth grade teacher was recently arrested for allegedly molesting one of his 10-year-old students while at Walt Disney Elementary School.

Jeff O’Hearn, who was  working as a counselor at Dougherty Valley High at the time of his arrest on Nov. 30, pleaded not guilty to one count of lewd acts with a minor and one count of oral copulation of a child 10 years of age or younger, said San Ramon police Lt. Craig Stevens.

The charges stem from one alleged incident involving a female Walt Disney student O’Hearn taught during the 2007-08 school year, Stevens said.

“We were all just kind of in shock and disbelief,” said senior Madison Schaeffer, who was in O’Hearn’s fourth-grade class. “I feel bad for him, because I don’t know if I necessarily believe that it’s true. Just the whole situation is kind of strange to me.”

The female victim who is currently a senior in high school, claims the incident occurred when she was in O’Hearn’s fourth-grade class.

“At this point, we’re unaware of any additional victims,” said Stevens.  “It appears this was just basically an isolated victim.”

The Contra Costa Times reported the victim is a junior in high school, but multiple Cal students who were in O’Hearn’s 2007-08 class said that she is a senior in high school.

Contra Costa Superior Court judge Cheryl Mills, reduced O’Hearn’s $1 million bail to $400,000 in December.

According to the Times, Mills “cited a lack of evidence to support that O’Hearn is a danger to society and questioned the alleged victim’s account.” The judge also  brought up the possibility of false memories of child abuse, the Times reported.

“You know and I know that things get implanted in children’s memories that aren’t true,” Mills told prosecutor Chris Walpole in the Times story.

Shortly after O’Hearn’s arrest, the school district sent out an email notifying parents of the situation while expressing concern for students.

Superintendent Mary Shelton wrote in the email that district educators are “very disturbed by this alleged incident” and that “the health, safety, and well-being of [students] continues to be [their] first priority.”

District spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich declined any further comment.

Following the arrest and conviction of former Cal High wrestling coach Kevin Lopez for child molestation, O’Hearn’s case is the second within 14 months to involve district employees.

Before the arrest, O’Hearn had no criminal record during his career as an educator, Stevens said.

Many of the Cal seniors who were in O’Hearn’s fourth grade class during 2007-08 had a hard time believing the allegations.

The news of his alleged actions was even more startling because students remembered O’Hearn as a good teacher and a nice person.

“It came to me as a surprise, mainly because he seemed more of a fatherly figure than anything,” said senior Aileen Villalpando. “He did seem to like kids a lot. I don’t know what that means in terms of what happened, but he was always very sweet with us.”

Although students were surprised by the allegations, they supported the alleged victim as well, stating that there is no reason to make up such a serious claim.

“If she says that it happened, then she has all the right to say that it did because it’s such a horrible thing,” Villalpando said.

Some students simply decided not to judge O’Hearn based on the allegations because they didn’t witness any inappropriate conduct.

“I didn’t ever think he made me feel uncomfortable in any way,” senior Morgan Taylor said. “I know some people may have felt that he was touchy, but I personally didn’t [feel that way].”

Though most students didn’t recall any of O’Hearn’s actions that aroused their suspicions, a few students did think he was somewhat strange.

“He was like really touchy with kids,” Nicole Tchabanov said. “He was always like the teacher that would come and pat your back and stuff. But I never felt super uncomfortable or anything.”