January 8, 2026
Media Relations Division
213-257-2000
media@da.lacounty.gov
Piano Teacher Who Fled to Australia Awaiting Jury Verdict Extradited from Australia to Face Sentencing Following Jury Conviction for Committing Lewd Acts Upon a Child
John Kaleel faces 10 years, 8 months in prison
LOS ANGELES – A 69-year-old West Hollywood piano teacher convicted by a jury last year of committing numerous lewd acts with a former teenage student has been extradited today from Australia to the United States after he fled to Australia while awaiting his jury verdict. John Michael Kaleel was taken into custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department upon arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday.
“Our hearts remain with the victim who endured years of abuse by someone he trusted,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “That predator, John Michael Kaleel, was tried and convicted but attempted to escape justice by fleeing to Australia during jury deliberations. He has now learned the hard way that you can run but you cannot hide, a lesson he can contemplate while hopefully serving years of state prison. Thank you to my office’s prosecutors, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and our federal and Australian law enforcement partners who came together to ensure that Mr. Kaleel was brought back to Los Angeles to be sentenced for the crimes of which the jury convicted him.”
Kaleel (dob 4/22/56) was convicted on Oct. 8, 2025, in case SA092017 of four felony counts of lewd act upon a child age 14 or 15 and one felony count of lewd act upon a child under age 14.
Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
From 2011-2013, Kaleel allegedly committed lewd acts upon a long-time student beginning when he was 13 years old.
Kaleel was arrested in Australia at the request of the United States and extradited to Los Angeles with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, Australian Attorney-General’s Department, and the Australian Federal Police. The U.S. Marshals Service escorted Kaleel to the United States.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson of the Sex Crimes Division and was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau.