Police in Orange County are investigating a long-time band teacher they say had a child with one of his former students in the 1980s and possibly had another intimate relationship with another student.
On Lexington High School’s website and Facebook page, 61-year-old Steve Graves is celebrated as a popular band teacher, winning OC band teacher of the year in 2018.
But Anaheim police say Graves started his more than 30-year teaching career at Loara High School in Anaheim where investigators say he had intimate relationships with two of his students.
“Our detectives started to immediately investigate the case and they learned there was another. A second victim who was a student at the same time,” said Matt Sutter with the Anaheim Police Department.
Sutter says the second victim also had a child with Graves.
That child is now in their 30s and police say the mother came forward after all these years about three weeks ago after showing up to the Anaheim Police Department to report the relationship.
A statement from the Anaheim Union High School District said in part “The district was shocked, saddened, and upset to learn of credible allegations made on social media claiming Graves sexually abused two former high school students 37 years ago.”
When Graves was interviewed, he acknowledged the now adult child, according to police.
“It was indisputable that he fathered this child with a student at Loara,” said Sutter.
NBC4 attempted to reach Graves at his home and also by phone, but was unsuccessful.
Graves also taught at Ball Junior High School and investigators are looking into whether he victimized other former students.
“As a father myself to a daughter who is in high school this case is deeply disturbing to me as with any parent. We trust our children when they go to school to be in the care and custody of our teachers our educators and when you hear about something like this it’s really disturbing,” said Sutter.
Graves has not been arrested.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said they won’t be able to file charges relating to these two cases due to the statute of limitations.