New Questions About Old Moraga Schools Sex Abuse Cases

Moraga School District officials plan to look into the district's handling of sexual abuse allegations against a Joaquin Moraga Intermediate school teacher, even though that teacher committed suicide in 1996 after denying the allegations.

District officials told the Contra Costa Times they will examine how former JM principal Bill Walters and other district employees handled complaints made by students against science teacher Dan Witters before his death. The newspaper reported that Walters -- who is still a principal with the district -- was aware of reports of abuse but failed to report complaints of abuse to local law enforcement.

Witters was reported missing from his Danville home in 1996, a day after school officials ultimately suspended him from teaching at JM and told him he was being investigated by Moraga police for alleged misconduct with students. His body was found with his pickup truck at the base of a cliff off Highway 1 in Big Sur several days later. No suicide note was ever found.

In a strange twist that rocked the close-knit district, the Witters case dovetailed with reports of abuse that surfaced after a former JM student detailed her trauma at the hands of another teacher  -- -- in 1996 and '97.

Correa was convicted on multiple felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sentenced to eight years in prison last year after she was taped making incriminating statements during a telephone conversation with her accuser.