A former Los Angeles piano teacher to Hollywood children was sentenced Friday to nine years and four months in state prison after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing a longtime student, ending a legal saga that spanned nearly a decade.
John Kaleel, 69, made headlines in October when he fled to his native Australia the same day a jury convicted him on five counts of sexual abuse. After fleeing to Australia, he was arrested by US authorities and extradited to LA in January to face sentencing.
“He has now learned the hard way that you can run, but you cannot hide, a lesson he can contemplate while hopefully serving years of state prison,” LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at the time of his return.
Authorities described the case as a years-long pattern of betrayal by a man who had once been regarded as a trusted instructor. Kaleel, a longtime lawful permanent resident of the US, taught private piano lessons in LA for more than 25 years and worked with a high-profile clientele.
His now-defunct website featured testimonials claiming to be from the children of well-known entertainment figures, including the creators of “Orange Is the New Black,” “Mad Men,” and “Dexter’s Laboratory,” according to the Los Angeles Times. However, spokespeople for these creators told the outlet that they had not endorsed Kaleel or permitted him to use any such comments.
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Prosecutors said the abuse began in 2011, when Kaleel’s student was just 13, and allegedly continued until 2013. The victim came forward in 2015, reporting Kaleel’s years-long pattern of inappropriate behavior to the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
The boy claimed that when he was 12, Kaleel asked him to measure his penis, and later convinced him that they would masturbate over FaceTime, according to court records, the LA Times reports. In September 2013, Kaleel invited the then-15-year-old over to smoke marijuana, after which they allegedly had oral sex, according to the victim.
Kaleel initially pleaded no contest to sexual abuse charges in 2016, seeking a lighter prison sentence. After the plea, he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but he successfully appealed a deportation order. He also convinced a LA County judge to throw out the plea, arguing that he had not been properly informed about its impact on his immigration status.
Following that decision, the district attorney’s office retried the case. In October, a jury convicted Kaleel of four felony counts of committing a lewd act on a child aged 14 or 15 and one felony count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14, resulting in Friday’s sentencing.
In addition to his prison term, Kaleel must register as a sex offender and comply with a protective order that will remain in effect for at least a decade.
“Our hearts remain with the victim who endured years of abuse by someone he trusted,” Hochman said in a statement in January. “Thank you to my office’s prosecutors, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and our federal and Australian law enforcement partners who came together to ensure that Mr. Kaleel was brought back to Los Angeles to be sentenced for the crimes of which the jury convicted him.”
Kaleel’s lawyer, Kate Hardie, told The Independent on Saturday that she did not represent him at his sentencing. She had previously told the LA Times that she last saw Kaleel on October 7, just before the jury returned its verdict, and had no contact with him since.
