Psychologist testifies for teacher in trial

Expert finds no evidence suspect is a pedophile

A clinical psychologist testified Friday that he found no evidence a fourth-grade teacher accused of inappropriately touching four 10-year- old girls is a pedophile.

Dr. Wesley Maram of Orange County took the stand Friday for the defense. Maram, who has spent his career treating and evaluating sex offenders, said he has testified in hundreds of court cases but rarely for the defense.

“Oftentimes, my evaluations are not favorable for the defense,” he said.

Maram said he met

with Joshua Levine, 43, a Castaic Elementary School teacher, for nine hours and gave him a series of tests, including a two-part examination called the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest.

Levine faces misdemeanor charges of inappropriately touching the four girls.

Maram’s examination involves asking a person to view 160 images of clothed adults and children and to imagine being sexually involved with the people in the images. The evaluation takes into account the person’s self-report responses and physical reaction to those images.

A second part of the

test is a sexual history questionnaire in which the examiner looks for evidence of cognitive distortions, which Maram described as the excuses a pedophile might make for deviant behavior.

“I didn’t find evidence to support a pedophilic disorder,” Maram said of Levine.

Maram described Levine as a “normal heterosexual man” and “bright,” with above-average intelligence.

On cross- examination, Maram said not all child molesters are pedophiles.

He also noted that the test has limitations. A person could have sexual deviance that does not get picked up by the test. Although the test is wellregarded, it has some

critics, he said.

“This test is not perfect. Like anything in science, the opinion (of psychologists) might change in the future,” he said.

Levine is accused of touching students inside his classroom during the 2014/2015 academic year. Prosecutors claim previous incidents occurred between 2001 and 2008. Levine was reportedly warned by a principal in 2008 not to touch students.

The defendant is expected to notify the court through his attorney on Sunday if he will testify as the trial continues into next week.

If convicted as charged, Levine faces a possible maximum sentence of four years in jail.