Piano teacher to children of L.A. stars fled country during abuse case

When jurors returned to a West Los Angeles courtroom to deliver their verdict in a child sex abuse case earlier this month, one important person was missing: the defendant.

Experienced piano teacher John Kaleel, who taught the families of many Hollywood stars, faced allegations that he sexually harassed one of his students in 2013.

Kaleel, 69, pleaded no contest to engaging in lewd conduct with a teenage student in 2016, but later fought to have the plea overturned after realizing his felony conviction would have been grounds for deportation to his native Australia. LA County prosecutors later retried him and he was released on his own recognizance while the case continued.

On Oct. 8, Kaleel fled the country when jurors at the Airport Courthouse found him guilty of five counts of sexual assault, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department statement and court records.

The Sheriff’s Department did not say where they believe Kaleel fled. Court records show prosecutors applied for an “Extradition/Fugitive Hard Copy Order,” but the application included no details about how he escaped, and a spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to answer questions.

Kaleel’s lawyer, Kate Hardie, said that she last saw her client while driving him home from court on October 7, the day before the verdict was announced, and that she had no contact with him since then. According to Hardie, Kaleel has been a legal permanent resident of the United States since the 1980s. Attempts by The Times to contact Kaleel were unsuccessful.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to discuss what steps would be taken to take Kaleel back into custody in Los Angeles. Hardie said his client risks spending at least a decade in state prison at sentencing.

Hardie accused the district attorney’s office of pursuing a “vindictive investigation” against Kaleel, who had already served a year in prison and spent time in a federal immigration detention center after the initial plea deal.

Kaleel taught private lessons in Los Angeles for more than a quarter-century, and according to his website, his clients included “professionals in the Hollywood industry and students pursuing successful music careers.” The website featured testimonials from the creators of critically acclaimed television series, including “Mad Men” and “Orange Is the New Black,” praising his work with children.

Emmy-winning animator Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of many famous cartoons such as “Dexter’s Laboratory” and “Samurai Jack,” also referred to Kaleel as a “gift,” according to his website.

“I have never seen my three children be so inspired or so enthusiastic about anything as your piano lessons,” Tartakovsky said, according to an earlier version of Kaleel’s business website.

The references were removed from the website on Monday after The Times contacted representatives of the people quoted.

Spokespeople for “Orange Is the New Black” creator Jenji Kohan and “Mad Men” writer Matthew Weiner denied giving Kaleel any endorsement or permission to post any comments on the website. Tartakovsky’s representative declined to comment. Court records show that Tartakovsky’s wife and one of Kaleel’s children, a former student, testified on the teacher’s behalf at the hearing.

“Mr. Kaleel has always maintained his innocence and took the initial plea bargain on the advice of counsel to avoid a harsher sentence should he lose the trial,” Hardie said. “He later learned of the immigration consequences when he was placed in an immigration detention facility for 8 years. [or] “He stayed for 9 months and faced dismissal.”

Hardie argued that his client was the victim of a “judgment tax”; This tax suggests that prosecutors often try to punish defendants more severely when they refuse to accept a plea. Hardie also said Sheriff’s Department detectives interviewed many of Kaleel’s students and “could not find another student who complained that Kaleel was inappropriate.”

The alleged victim in the case first contacted the Sheriff’s Department in 2015. The boy said he was 15 when he acted inappropriately by asking Kaleel to “take measurements.” [the victim’s] body parts, including his penis, according to court records.

Two years later, Kaleel convinced the boy that they should masturbate together during a FaceTime call because “that’s what friends do,” records show. In September 2013, prosecutors alleged that Kaleel invited the boy over and they smoked marijuana together before performing oral sex.

A friend of the victim also testified at trial that Kaleel tried to have sexual intercourse with her, but that crime was not reported, according to court records. Hardie said his client had no physical contact with that child.

After Kaleel took a plea deal, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ordered deported. According to former immigration lawyer Mfon Anthony Ikon, he successfully appealed his dismissal to the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2019.

The icon said that the US Department of Homeland Security had given up on attempts to deport Kaleel.

Representatives for ICE and DHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Kaleel persuaded a judge in 2022 to throw out his plea to the first sex crime charge on the grounds that he did not fully understand the impact it would have on his immigration status, records show.

Former Los Angeles District Attorney Dmitry Gorin, who has handled cases in the area for the past three decades, said defendants’ disappearance on the eve of verdict is rare but unprecedented.

“It’s an unusual situation,” he said. “But the behavior of people facing very long periods of time in prison can be quite unpredictable.”