The jury trial for former Ralston Middle School custodian Andre Edwards, who is accused of inappropriately touching female students on two separate occasions, has been reset to April 15, 2013.
This will be the fourth setting of the jury trial date; the trial was to have started today, Feb. 11 at 8:45 a.m. in San Mateo Superior Court, but Criminal Presiding Judge Jonathan Karesh granted a defense motion requesting a continuance until April 15.
Edwards remains out of custody on a $50,000 bail bond. The defense attorney is Eric Hove.
Edwards, 54, is charged with two counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14. He was expected to go to trial in October 2012, but both the prosecution and defense teams requested additional time to prepare for the trial.
In the 2010 incident, Edwards allegedly put his hands down the pants of a 13-year-old girl. The girl reported the incident and police investigated, but the case wasn't prosecuted due to a lack of corroboration.
In the second incident, Edwards was alone with a 13-year-old female student in his office at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2010, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.
Edwards allegedly "grabbed her buttock and cupped her breast with his hand," the district attorney's office reported.
The student told school officials after first period, and the police were called. Edwards was arrested in March 2011.
Edwards has denied the claims. He retired from the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District on Feb. 28, 2011 where he had been employed since September 1987.
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