Local News in Brief : Principal Who Was Charged in Sex-Soliciting Case Is Replaced

The principal of a Burbank Catholic high school who pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace after being charged with soliciting a lewd act last year has been replaced, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said Wednesday.

Father Jeremiah Murphy, superintendent of high schools for the archdiocese, said the contract of Albert Borrelli, who had been principal at Bellarmine-Jefferson High School for the last nine years, was not renewed when it came up for review recently. Assistant principal Mary Ellen Rausch, who had served as interim principal following Borrelli’s arrest, has been appointed to take his place, Murphy said.

Borrelli pleaded guilty in March to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace. He was fined $280 and placed on 12 months’ probation.

The first layman principal of the 560-student high school, Borrelli had been on a paid leave of absence since being charged last September.

He was arrested Aug. 23 by a police undercover officer in an alley adjacent to a North Hollywood sex film and book store.

In a letter to the archdiocese after his arrest, Borrelli called himself a “victim of an outrageous allegation.”

Borrelli could not be reached for comment Wednesday.