SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An Escondido high school teacher was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of sexually abusing underage teenagers.
Orange Glen High School social-sciences instructor Travis Lee Putnam, 32, was taken into custody shortly after 1:30 p.m. during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Oceanside, according to sheriff's officials.
Putnam, an Escondido resident, was booked into county jail in Vista on four counts of committing lewd acts with children ages 14 or 15, Lt. Michael Blevins said.
The alleged crimes were unrelated to the suspect's job, Blevins said. A statement from Escondido Unified High School District likewise asserted that the accusations "do not involve students from EUHSD" and were not "believed to have occurred on any EUHSD campus."
Putnam has been placed on administrative leave pending resolution of the charges, according to district officials.
Blevins did not specify the number of alleged victims in the case or disclose details on the circumstances of the purported crimes.
Putnam is being held on $500,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon in the Vista courthouse.