UKIAH, CA., 4/28/26 — A former Ukiah High School journalism teacher and publisher of the now-shuttered news website MendoFever entered a not guilty plea Monday morning to a misdemeanor charge after being accused of having inappropriate communications with a minor, his defense attorney confirmed.
Matthew LaFever was arrested in November 2025 on suspicion of asking a 17-year-old girl for explicit photos while also sending revealing images of himself. On April 7, LaFever was charged with a misdemeanor count of allegedly annoying or molesting a child under 18.
LaFever’s attorney Orchid Vaghti confirmed that his pretrial conference is set for June 23 and his jury trial for July 20.
LaFever did not appear in court Monday, but Vaghti appeared on his behalf. State law allows those accused of most misdemeanors to appear by counsel alone. Vaghti had no comment about the case following the hearing.
The Ukiah Unified School District in February suspended LaFever without pay and dismissed him from his position as a permanent certificated employee with the district. The district has since clarified that LaFever has appealed the dismissal and a hearing is still pending.
The district in documents filed as part of the dismissal proceedings said he allegedly engaged in inappropriate online conduct with a female student via the social media platform Snapchat, including sending photos of himself in various stages of undress.
Note: The story has been updated to clarify that LaFever has since appealed his dismissal by the school district.
Sad it is
All a girl has to do is make up a story and it becomes fact in the eyes of public opinion.
I hope you’re not insinuating this is a made up story?!?!
It’s equally true that the accuser is believed to be truthful and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Not being specific to this situation because the courts can figure that out but people today seem to believe everything they see in comments on Facebook and hear in podcasts- regardless of source or motive so it’s hard for people to know what is real or just extra misinformation blown up to inflame or support a viewpoint. That’s why social media is such a powerful tool manipulated by many politicians & can easily ruin lives. Like the game where 1 person whispers something and passes it on and in the end, it doesn’t really resemble the original statement as every time the story gets bigger and bigger.
@Michael- yes, made up. Being a male in today’s society is nothing but a target. A girl can make up whatever story they want and it’s taken as gospel.
Every kid at the high school knew he was a creep. There should be an annonymous poll for students at the end of each year, for complaints.
Dave is dumb
Mommy Dearest Dummy sounds like an overweight woman who is too ugly to get a man. Here’s some advice, go to the Humane Society and pickup some more cats. Maybe they will give you the attention you crave.
Various stages of undress refers to workout clothes. Otherwise it would say nude, naked, etc. I think by now everyone has seen the photo a zillion times since this has gotten so blown out of proportion comments. Sounds like it might have been a bit of a plan- something about a fake profile for odd reasons.
I sad that these cases take so long to get to court. These should be resolved in 60 days or less. This could be done if all involved had the commitment to do so.
There’s still time to recall Eyster and stop his vindictive prosecutions of people he doesn’t like. He’s a little tyrant who hates the State who employs him, the people he serves and those who work for him. He’s a great candidate for retirement in Idaho where ex cops and prosecutors congregate. Cold swims in a Sand Point lake will calm his nerves.
Well, obviously no one is gonna post his butthole pic in the local paper thank goodness! I honestly can’t believe the comments. The guy is sick.
Avoid communicating with Dave. Rage baiting is the agenda for him. He doesn’t care about men except when they make good content for him to rage bait about.