Community Shocked By Arrest of High School Teacher on Sex Charges

Moments after Patch posted the news that , community members began reacting, flooding our site and Facebook page with comments.

And the flurry of conversations hasn't stopped yet, with roughly 190 posts and counting.

People are shocked. They're upset. And many who know Johnson can't believe it, saying the 40-year-old Livermore resident, who is married and has a son the same age as the alleged victim, would never do such a thing.

"I do not believe any of this," Patch reader Jean Hastings Thompson wrote in the comments section of . "Marie is a wonderful teacher and made a huge difference in all 3 of my teens who had her as a teacher!"

Johnson appears to be popular with students, many of whom jumped to her defense.

Mrs.J, she is not only one of the greatest people I have ever met, but also one of the strongest. She helped me through alot. We were very close. No matter guilty or not, I'll always love her like my second mom. — Patch reader "MariJane"

I've known mrs. J since my sophomore year. She has helped me through the toughest times and has always been there to talk or to hangout. I know down right that she would never do such a thing. —Patch reader "Sarah"

I had ms j for my first and beginning 2nd trimester at Granada highschool during freshman year, I moved after that. She was an amazing teacher, we all loved her as a second mom. She was there if we needed help in our class, or even just to talk about some other problem. —Patch reader "Sam"

However, other students said they felt Johnson at times overstepped her boundaries as a teacher.

Mrs Johnson was a good teacher, I had her for geometry. But it always seemed like she tried too hard to be our friends. It always made us feel a little uneasy, but so do a lot of other teachers, they all have their quirks. —Ashley Brooks wrote on our Facebook page.

Supporters say Johnson was expressing such kindness because she wanted her students to succeed.

According to a Wikipedia article about sexual abuse in the American education system, harrassment is "common and six in 10 students will suffer some form of physical sexual abuse." Based on a 2002 American Association of University Women study, of those who are abused, 38 percent were abused by teachers.

Effects of the abuse include: 

"Students experience a wide range of effects from sexual harassment that impact their academics including: have trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, decreased participation in class, avoid a study group, think about changing schools, change schools, avoid the library, change major, not going to a professor/ teaching assistant’s office hours. Students may experience multiple effects or just one..."

Superintendent Kelly Bowers said Thursday the campus has made counselors available to students.

"All adults on campus are sensitive to the situation and committed to the well-being of our students," she said.

In an interview with ABC 7, Granada High Principal Philomena Rambo says the campus is going through a difficult time.

"The staff is reeling, the students, the whole community is, and our goal is to get us all through it together," she said.

Johnson is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of $1.85 million bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned at 11 a.m. Friday in Department 701 of the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton. Court records show she is expected to be charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 18, oral copulation and committing a lewd act on a child.

If you need help or know someone who may be the victim of sexual abuse, contact the Alameda County Family Justice Center, which lists a number of East Bay resources on this webpage or click the PDF attached to this article. You can also get information from the Alameda County Child Abuse Prevention Council or call their hotline at 510-259-1800.