Logan Teacher Arrested on Suspicion of Having Sex With Student

by Zonelle Maharaj
Newark Patch

A former James Logan High School teacher was arrested Thursday on suspicion of having sex with a student, police said.

Peter Kolesnikov, 38, faces 22 counts of sexual assualt, including charges of statutory rape, oral copulation of a minor and communicating with a minor with criminal intent, according to Cmdr. Ben Horner of the Union City Police Department. He was arrested without incident by Union City police while en route to meet with the juvenile victim at an undisclosed location in Hayward.

Police received information on Tuesday morning alleging that Kolesnikov, an English teacher who also taught some art, had engaged in sexual relations with a 16-year-old girl over a nine-month period, starting last year in March and ending in November. Investigators then served search warrants at Kolesnikov’s residences in San Francisco and Berkeley.

According to the New Haven Unified School District, Kolesnikov has been on leave since the beginning of the school year and has not worked for the district since last June.

The victim, now 17, told police that the relationship began with kissing and grew into sexual encounters in private homes and motels in Alameda County.

Kolesnikov is being held at Santa Rita Jail on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Fremont Hall of Justice.

Authorities in Union City have worked with the New Haven Unified School District to ensure the safety of all students in the district, Horner said.

Police believe that there may be additional victims and our urging parents to speak to their children about the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Union City Police Department’s Press Information Officer Ben Horner at 510-675-5225. Anonymous tips may also be made by calling 510-675-5207 or emailing tips@unioncity.org.

Kolsenikov becomes the third Bay Area teacher arrested in a sex scandal this week.

On Wednesday in Livermore, Marie Johnson, a 40-year-old Granada High School teacher, was arrested on suspicion of committing 24 counts of sexual assault on a 14-year-old boy. On Tuesday in San Jose, 35-year-old Whaley Elementary School teacher Craig Chandler was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a student.

With word of Kolesnikov's arrest spreading rapidly Friday, former students have taken to social media to voice their support for the former Logan teacher, whom many refer to as "Mr. K."

"That was my teacher! No way he would do that. Best teacher I had," one former student wrote on Twitter.

Another student, however, wrote that Kolesnikov "was always talkin bout sex" in art class. "He was the coolest teacher ever though!," the student added.