Judge sends former Fresno teacher Aaron Butler case toward trial after testimony

Butler, 56, appeared out of custody in civilian clothes for the evidentiary hearing in Fresno County Superior Court. One girl testified that she cried immediately when she saw him in court and identified him right away. The testimony described conduct that began when some of the girls were in second grade at Lane Elementary, the Fresno Unified K-6 school at 4730 E. Lowe Ave. in southeast Fresno. Butler allegedly asked girls to sit on his lap, placed his hands in one girl’s pants while she was at his desk, and in another girl’s account sat with her nearly every day and touched her about once a week. One girl said she did not tell her parents at the time because she believed what was happening was normal. Another said she felt hurt after learning of Butler’s arrest because she wished she had spoken up sooner.

Butler faces nine counts of lewd and lascivious acts involving five girls, with the alleged conduct spanning August 2014 through June 2017. The former students who testified were in their late teens when they took the stand, and the alleged victims were under 14 when the abuse occurred. If convicted, Butler could face up to 150 years in prison. California Penal Code section 288 makes lewd acts on a child under 14 a felony punishable by three, six or eight years in state prison for a basic violation, with harsher penalties in aggravated cases.