Brandon Jacob Nease in a jail booking photo.
Brandon Jacob Nease. Booking photo courtesy the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

A Costa Mesa High School drama teacher who formerly worked at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach has been arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a 13-year-old boy beginning in 2011.

Brandon Jacob Nease, 25, of Orange, was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of felony child molestation, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s officials said they suspect there may be additional victims, because Nease has worked closely with children in a series of jobs prior to Costa Mesa High, where he has worked for the past 18 months.

The sheriff’s department provided a list of his recent employers where he may have come into contact with kids:

  • Beginning in 2013, he was a dance teacher at the Boys and Girls Club in Tustin and Fountain Valley.
  • He worked as an education and outreach coordinator for Musical Theatre West from 2015 to 2017.
  • From 2012 to 2015, Nease worked as a dance specialist at Camp James in Newport Beach.
  • From 2008 to 2016, he was a choreographer/director at Musical Theatre Village in Irvine, sheriff’s officials said.

It was not immediately clear how or where Nease came into contact with the alleged victim that prompted his arrest, or how long the alleged lewd acts continued.

Nease was released Wednesday morning on $100,000 bond, jail records show.

Anyone with information or who believes they may have been victimized was asked to call the sheriff’s Special Victims Detail at 714-647-7419. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.