Oct. 1 (UPI) — California state officials are investigating flutes distributed to several Orange County schools that may have been contaminated by a man’s semen.
Officials are also investigating the man who may have defiled the flutes.
The flutes were distributed as part of a musical program. The man who gave the musical instruments to schoolchildren is an independent contractor.
School officials sent emails to parents of children at the affected schools to inform them of the investigation.
“We were informed that an independent contractor who provided a music enrichment program to the fifth-grade classes at Courreges Elementary School, in June 2017, gave the students flutes/recorders that were potentially contaminated with bodily fluids,” Mark Johnson, superintendent of the Fountain Valley School District, told the Orange County Register in an email.
Both the California Department of Justice and U.S. Postal Service are investigating the incident. The investigation is being assisted by local police.
While several official statements referred only to the contaminating substance as “bodily fluids,” at least one local official acknowledged the suspicion that the flutes were tainted with the man’s semen.
“The performer distributes a flute-like musical instrument made of PVC pipe or bamboo to students during a music lesson, and the allegation is that he contaminated some of these instruments with semen,” Joan Lucid, superintendent of the Saugus district, informed parents in an email over the weekend.
Several parents expressed outrage and disgust at the allegations.
“My kids have brought these flutes home. They’re putting their mouths on it, and they’re playing with these instruments,” local parent Tudy Balta told CBS2 News. “And for someone to contaminate it with their bodily fluids, that’s disgusting. My kids could’ve gotten sick.”
Police have asked children with the flutes to place them in paper bags before turning them over to investigators. Plastic bags can degrade forensic evidence.
