RIVERSIDE - A former Corona high school teacher accused of molesting three boys convinced one of them that the type of activity they were engaging in was "normal," the now 26-year-old witness testified today.

Vince, whose full name was withheld to protect his identity, said the defendant, Richard Angulo, masturbated him on hundreds of occasions, beginning when he was 11 years old.

The alleged victim testified that Angulo explained to him that men and boys needed to "release their sexual urges" and that masturbation was a key part of doing so.

According to the witness, when he and Angulo engaged in mutual masturbation, it seemed at the time to be more of a recreational activity.

"I didn't see it as sexual," he testified.

He estimated that he and the defendant, who is nine years older, masturbated together about 500 times before he turned 14.

"This appeared to be a normal relationship?" asked Angulo's attorney, Pat Morreale, during cross-examination.

"He made it appear that way -- yes," the witness replied.

Angulo, 35, is charged with two dozen counts of lewd acts on a child. He is free on $1 million bail and faces a maximum 200 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Angulo was Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] arrested in May 2008, when he was working as a math teacher and junior varsity baseball coach at Centennial High School in Corona. He has since been fired.

There are no allegations that he molested students at the school. The molestation of the three alleged victims happened in the mid to late 1990s, according to Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Elan Zekster.

Vince continued to be intimate with the defendant after he turned 18, the prosecutor said.

According to trial testimony, Angulo met Vince's family while attending Crossroads Christian Church in Corona and rented a room in the victim's house when the boy's father separated from his mother.

Vince introduced Angulo to his friends, Michael and Tom, who have also accused the defendant of molesting them.

Zekster alleged that in addition to acts of masturbation, Angulo took showers with the boys, slept in their beds and, in the case of Vince, performed oral sex.

The defense is expected to open its case next week.

Angulo's first trial on the felony charges ended last month in a mistrial when Judge John Molloy learned that one of his sons had attended school with one of the alleged victims.

Angulo was acquitted in 1999 of a misdemeanor charge of child molestation.