Sex charges filed against Los Banos police officer, ex-teacher

Formal felony charges of sexual penetration and oral copulation were filed Thursday against a former high school teacher from Los Banos, who is now a city police officer.

Dusty E. Norris, 37, was charged with three counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and one count of oral copulation with a minor, all felonies, along with a misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

Katie Gates, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case against Norris, said it was too early to comment on details of the investigation.

Norris, who remained in custody Thursday on $200,000 bail, is scheduled for arraignment at 10 a.m. Monday in Merced Superior Court.

The allegations stem from Norris’ time as a high school vocational instructor between 2004 and 2007, before he became a police officer, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

The alleged victims were two girls who were in his classes, prosecutors have said.

Norris was arrested Wednesday, following a lengthy investigation. He has been a full time Los Banos police officer since 2008. All of the allegations involve his time as a teacher. He has not been charged with any criminal activity involving his time a police officer, authorities have said.

Allegations against Norris came to light during the investigation into Gary Bettencourt, a Los Banos teacher accused of having sex with high school students, authorities said.

Bettencourt was placed on administrative leave by the school district in September and arrested in February. He has pleaded not guilty to 13 felonies, including unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation with a minor and lewd acts upon a child.

Prosecutors have said the cases against Norris and Bettencourt “are not related.” However, at least one girl is believed to have been victimized by both Norris and Bettencourt, authorities have said.

Although Norris was working at the high school, the Los Banos Unified School District issued a statement on Thursday stating he wasn’t employed or supervised by the district. He was employed by the Merced County Office of Education.

“At no time has Mr. Norris been an employee of or under the supervision of the Los Banos Unified School District,” the release states.

The statements added the staff is continuing to cooperate with the investigation, and the school district is taking the issue seriously.

Merced County Superintendent Steve Gomes on Thursday declined to comment on the case or allegations. But he confirmed that Norris was hired Nov. 1, 2004, to teach the construction trade ROP class at the high school, and resigned on May 25, 2007, to take another job.

“At this point, MCOE is just allowing law enforcement to handle and investigate this,” Gomes said. “That person hasn’t been employed for almost nine years now.”

For most of Norris’ time at the high school, he was under the supervision of Patrick Bowman, Gomes said.

Bowman was sentenced to federal prison more than two years ago for exposing high school students to asbestos while running a work experience and job training program.

Bowman was a coordinator for the Workplace Learning Academy and teacher at Valley Community School in Los Banos prior to his sentencing.

Federal Bureau of Prisons records indicate Bowman is enrolled in a residential re-entry management program with a release date of June 11.

Gomes said during Norris’ last year at the high school, current Valley Community School Principal Lori Gattuso was his supervisor.

Holly Newlon, the assistant superintendent for career and alternative education and Gattuso’s supervisor, said Thursday afternoon that there were no behavior issues with Norris suggesting he would be charged with sex offenses.

“At no time were we aware of any inappropriate behavior,” she said.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Sex charges filed against Los Banos police officer, ex-teacher."