Guadalupe teacher pleads not guilty to charge of lewd conduct on Cal Poly campus

A Guadalupe Union School District teacher pleaded not guilty Thursday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court to one misdemeanor count of lewd conduct in a public place stemming from an alleged incident at the Cal Poly library.

James Robert Ungricht, who was a math teacher at Kermit McKenzie Junior High at the time of the incident, is out of custody on $10,000 bail. Ungricht is no longer listed on the school website’s staff page and has been placed on administrative leave by the district, Superintendent Ed Cora told the Santa Maria Times.

Ungricht, a student in Cal Poly’s School of Education, was arrested on campus Oct. 18 and booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail following a 10-day investigation after University Police received a report “of a person possibly engaging in lewd acts in the university’s library on Oct. 3,” Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier said.

Lazier said Cal Poly has issued a temporary stay-away order against Ungricht, and he is not allowed on campus except to attend investigative meetings.

Ungricht faces a maximum penalty of less than a year in jail. His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 14.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Guadalupe teacher pleads not guilty to charge of lewd conduct on Cal Poly campus."