Stalker of Whittier Catholic School Principal Prompts Ex-Teacher's Warning

Police said the convicted stalker was not a threat to children

Parents at a Whittier Catholic school were set on edge after a former teacher sent a mass email warning them that students could be at risk because the principal is allegedly being harassed by a stalker.

The email, from a first grade teacher who had recently left St. Bruno Catholic School, described a deranged man who had harassed the female principal.

"Two of his latest communications have mentioned death," the email warned.

Whittier police said Tuesday, however, that the man was not a threat but had offered "unwanted attention" to the principal. Police called a news conference at the school Tuesday morning after news reports about the email late Monday.

Authorities said the man had been arrested for violating a restraining order and was convicted of misdemeanor stalking. He had been released earlier this month and had not made threats against the principal or the school, police said.

"There was nothing in there that would suggest violence, nothing in there that would suggest any death threats that's being alleged by some people in the community," Whittier police Lt. Kent Miller said.

The school has a lay principal and faculty, according to the St. Bruno website, which lists the principal's name at Catherine Carvalho.

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Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which oversees the school, said a parent meeting was planned for Tuesday evening at the school. Going forward, he said, the school may consider notifying parents of such situations.

"We believe it was handled quickly by the police. It was never a threat to the children," Tamberg said.

Tamberg appeared at the campus after a police press conference Tuesday morning.

The school believes the man convicted of stalking has moved to Nevada, authorities said.

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