SAMOHI SEX SCANDALS SIZZLE IN COURT Two local high school instructors reached plea deals this summer in separate cases, but both stemming from allegations that they were sexually involved with teenagers.
In July, a judge approved the settlement of an underage sex case involving Carl Hammer, a former Samohi band director. He pleaded no contest to a felony charge of false imprisonment related to a sexual encounter that occurred with a 15-year-old girl, his next door neighbor, on June 6, 2004.
Hammer avoided facing at least three years in prison and the status of being a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. He did receive five years of probation and one year of counseling.
And in October, Mike Hearn, a Samohi assistant basketball and football coach, pleaded no contest to nine felony charges related to sexual relationships he had with three teenage girls.
Hearn pleaded no contest to six counts of unlawful sex with a 17-year-old girl, two counts for allegedly having oral sex and performing a lewd act upon a 15-year-old girl, and one count for sharing pornographic materials with a third girl, also 15. Two of the victims were believed to be Samohi students. Hearn was arrested on June 2, 2004. He was sentenced to two years in jail and will carry the status of a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 31, 2005. Read the original PDF.