A violin teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of sexually assaulting a female student in Irvine, beginning when she was 8 years old.
Peter Daesul Kwon, 32, of Irvine, could face up to 27 years to life in prison if convicted of three counts lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and one count of sexual penetration of a child younger than 10, according to prosecutors.
Investigators allege the felony sexual misconduct took place between 2005 and 2007, according to Irvine police Officer Kim Mohr.
“At the time of the crimes, Kwon taught violin lessons out of his home,” according to Mohr. She said the girl “came forward to Irvine police detectives last month and an investigation was initiated,” resulting in Kwon’s arrest on Wednesday.
Kwon teaches students from his home under the business name “Peter Kwon’s String Studio” and also teaches at Vienna Music Institute in Irvine and the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, Mohr said.
Anyone with information about the case or who believes they were victimized by Kwon is asked to contact Irvine police Detective Jason Renshaw at (949) 724-7244 or jrenshaw@cityofirvine.org, or Orange County District Attorney’s Office Supervising Investigator Eric Wiseman at (714) 347-8794.
Kwon is jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. His next court date is a June 4 pretrial hearing at the Harbor Justice Center.