Ex-teacher gets 4 years for sex with 14-year-old girl

By ANDREW GALVIN
The Orange County Register
A former middle school teacher was sentenced today to four years in state prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl, one of his students, in local hotels and in his car, prosecutors said.
Daniel Axtell, 38, of Santa Ana pleaded guilty on Dec. 17 to six felony counts of lewd acts on a 14-year-old child, one felony count of sex with a minor and one felony count of first-degree burglary.
Axtell met the girl at Talbert Middle School in Huntington Beach. He befriended the victim by consoling her after her parents had an argument and she confided in him about personal problems, prosecutors said. He gained the trust of the girl's parents by acting as a mentor to their daughter, prosecutors said.
From April 1, 2005, to June 1, 2005, Axtell had a sexual relationship with the girl, prosecutors said. On multiple occasions, he took the girl to hotels where he had unlawful intercourse with her. In one hotel, the defendant wrote "Daniel + (victim's name)" and drew a heart around it in pen inside a closet door, prosecutors said. The victim came forward in 2007 to report the sexual assaults, prosecutors said.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Nicholson said the victim, now 18, and her stepfather attended today's sentencing.
"He truly violated the trust of this girl," Nicholson said. "She confided in him. He took advantage of her. He groomed her and then violated her sexually. He violated his position of trust and authority."
The victim gave a tearful impact statement and explained that not only did Axtell violate her, he embarrassed her and made it necessary for her to change schools because all the other students knew about the sexual relationship.
The girl's high school experience was ruined because she was humiliated, lost friends, never attended dances or the prom, and would never look at relationships the same way again, according to statements from the girl and her parents, prosecutors said.