Charges against one of two elementary school teachers in California were dropped on Wednesday after an accuser did not provide "essential" testimony in the case, NBC Southern California reported.
Though the case was dropped against Martin Bernard Springer, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office reserved the right to re-file charges. In a statement, the office said they were "unable to proceed because the victim does not want to testify" in Springer's case.
In February 2012, two girls -- one of which later recanted her story -- accused Springer of fondling them in a school. He was then charged with three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14.
After his arrest, Springer was able to post bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 16 but the accuser was "very traumatized with the experience of testifying in court."
He was arrested shortly after a fellow teacher, Mark Berndt, was arrested in a separate sex scandal. After an investigation, it was determined that there was no connection between the teachers and the sex abuse accusations.
Berndt was being held on around two dozen charges, one of which included lacing cookies with semen and feeding them to children. He entered a no-contest plea and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In November 2013, 61 families received settlements following the sexual abuse case at Miramonte Elementary School.
