An Australian piano teacher who taught the children of Hollywood celebrities has been arrested in Australia after fleeing the United States on the day he was found guilty of child sex abuse charges. John Kaleel, 69, was taken into custody by the Australian Federal Police on October 31, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Kaleel, who moved to California in the 1980s, was convicted by a jury of five counts of sexual abuse involving a teenage student. He fled the US the same day the verdict was delivered last month. Prosecutors have filed a warrant for his extradition back to the US, where he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The investigation into Kaleel began in 2015 when a teenage student reported inappropriate behavior. In 2016, he pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act with a student, but later sought to withdraw the plea after learning it could lead to deportation. He was released pending trial but fled when jurors began deliberating.
Court documents allege that Kaleel took measurements of the victim’s body parts, including his penis, and convinced the boy to masturbate together on a FaceTime call, saying it was “what friends do.” Prosecutors also allege that in 2013, Kaleel and the boy smoked marijuana before engaging in oral sex. A second boy testified that Kaleel attempted sexual conduct, but no charges were filed in that case.
Kaleel’s website, now deactivated, boasted of teaching children of Hollywood industry professionals, including Emmy Award-winning director Genndy Tartakovsky, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, and Orange Is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan. Both Weiner and Kohan told the Los Angeles Times they never endorsed the pianist or authorized the use of their names.
Kaleel’s lawyer, Katie Hardie, stated that she last saw her client on October 7 and has had no contact since. She maintained that Kaleel has always asserted his innocence and took the initial plea bargain on advice of counsel to avoid a harsher sentence.
