Former NFL player Joseph Manuel Orduna was charged Tuesday with allegedly making sexually suggestive comments and inappropriately touching two female students, including kissing one on the lips and grabbing the other's buttocks, law enforcement officials said.
Orduna, a biology teacher and wrestling coach at Godinez Fundamental High School in Santa Ana, Calif., was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of child annoyance, Orange County prosecutors said.
Orduna, 63, is accused of discussing his sex life and making crude comments in front of his class.
Between April and June of last year, he is accused of making suggestive comments and inappropriately touching the two female students, both 16.
With one, Orduna is accused of kissing her on the lips while hugging her in the hall outside his classroom. He is also accused of grabbing the buttocks of the other girl, also as he gave her a hug.
The first girl reported the alleged incident to school officials, and Santa Ana police launched an investigation, during the course of which the incident involving the second girl was revealed.
Orduna, who could face a maximum sentence of two years in jail if convicted, is being held in lieu of $15,000 bail.
Orduna was a star running back at Nebraska before being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1971 NFL Draft. After failing to make the team, he later played three seasons with the New York Giants (1972-73) and Baltimore Colts (1974), running for career 236 yards and three touchdowns as an NFL backup.
-- Rick Rojas
