Mountain View police arrested Harlan Edelman at Cuesta Park. Police say the former teacher was supposed to meet the 17-year-old boy he had been communicating with online. But, there was no minor, just detectives waiting for him.
"The suspect actually proactively contacted when he thought was a 17-year-old male for sex," Sgt. Saul Jaeger said. "So they exchanged communication electronically and that's how we ended up identifying who he was."
Edelman had been a teacher at the Academy of Arts and Sciences in San Francisco, but resigned in September 2013. The San Francisco Unified School District says his departure had nothing to do with any wrongdoing.
Edelman was once a speech and debate team coach at Lowell High School, then a career counselor at Lincoln High School. The school district says a background check was done prior to hiring him. They add, "there is nothing in Mr. Edelman's employment record indicating that there would be cause for concern."
Mountain View police fear Edelman may have approached other minors through the Internet.
"Without getting into the tactics of how we go about this, the focus is on again protecting our community form any type of criminal at all but especially sexual predators," Jaeger said.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 650-903-6395.
