Nonprofit program founder charged with lewd acts against girls

SANTA ANA, Calif.-The founder of a nonprofit group that was investigated over allegations it gave flutes possibly tainted with semen to schoolchildren has been charged with committing lewd acts against girls in California, it was announced Thursday.

John Zeretzke, 60, of Ventura was indicted by an Orange County grand jury last month on charges involving five girls under age 14 in Los Angeles and Orange counties, the state attorney general's office said.

Court records show he has pleaded not guilty to the charges, the Orange County Register reported.

He was arrested this month and remained jailed Thursday, according to the county Sheriff's department website.

A call to Zeretzke's home seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Zeretzke founded an international program called Flutes Across the World that held programs in schools where thousands of students played or made flutes, which were distributed around the world.

In 2017, California authorities began investigating reports that some flutes distributed to schoolchildren in Orange County school districts were tainted with semen.

Parents in some districts were urged to put the flutes in paper bags and turn them in to authorities for testing.

The new indictment did not provide many details and the attorney general's office declined to say whether the charges involved any allegations of tainted flutes.

However, a statement from the office said the charges "are not based upon allegations that he personally had physical contact with any child."

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