Murrieta middle school teacher arrested for sexually abusing two minors

A middle school teacher in Murrieta was arrested nearly a decade ago on suspicion of sexually abusing multiple minors, and police are now searching for other potential victims.

Wayne Conklin, a 50-year-old Murrieta resident and teacher at Thompson Middle School, was arrested Wednesday, according to Murrieta police.

According to a statement from the MPD, investigators were made aware of the allegations on July 16.

They were able to determine that Conklin “allegedly sexually abused two minor children in 2016,” police said.

He was taken to the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, where he is being held on $1 million bail.

On Friday, he was charged with lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse of multiple victims and deterring a witness or victim from reporting the crime to police – all felonies.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Murrieta Valley Unified School District officials placed Conklin on unpaid administrative leave following his arrest and said he was prohibited from entering school grounds.

A now-deleted profile of Conklin on Thompson Middle School's website said he taught at the school for more than two decades after graduating from California State University, San Marcos.