Lodi Fire captain arrested

Lodi Fire Capt. Michael Tecklenburg was arrested and jailed early Tuesday morning on suspicion of rape and sexual battery, possession of child pornography and other charges.

His 14-year-old adopted daughter, who had been missing for more than two weeks, contacted her therapist Monday night, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department. After investigators interviewed her, she was placed in protective custody.

Michael Tecklenburg

Tecklenburg was then arrested and booked into the county jail in French Camp at 2:59 a.m. Tuesday. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Lodi court this afternoon.

Through Sheriff's officials at the jail, he declined an interview. His wife, however, said their daughter has a history of lying.

Tecklenburg, 42, was arrested on suspicion of forcible rape, sexual battery with restraint, making terrorist threats, possession of child pornography and committing lewd acts on a child, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Tecklenburg's bail was set at $283,333.33. Should he post bail, a temporary restraining order bars him from going to his home or contacting his children who live there, said Sheriff Baxter Dunn.

Most of the charges against Tecklenburg were based on statements allegedly made by his daughter, Dunn said. The pornography charges were related to information found on the family's computer.

As of Tuesday, the District Attorney's Office had not filed charges against Tecklenburg.

In many criminal cases, charges are not filed until the morning before arraignment.

Tecklenburg is also a volunteer firefighter for the Clements Fire Department and helps coach wrestling at Lodi High School. He and his wife, Lisa, have three biological children and three adopted children.

"He's been an incredible father," Lisa Tecklenburg said by telephone Tuesday, her voice wavering.

"(The girl has) got a long history of compulsive lying. I just never thought she would do something like that to him," she added.

Their daughter, who was reported missing Aug. 28, had become the focus of an extensive search and a reward that surpassed $10,000. She had a history of running away, but always returned that same day, her parents said last week at their rural Clements home.

Though the girl's name was previously published, the News-Sentinel is no longer printing her name, due to a policy that does not name alleged victims involved in sexual assault and molestation cases.

The girl, who was taken from an abusive home at the age of 31/2, was adopted by the Tecklenburgs when she was 5, according to her adoptive parents. Her siblings went to other homes.

"We were aware of her background but, at the same time, she provided us with very graphic and compelling information that caused us to believe the allegations," Dunn said.

Investigators had already been looking more closely at Michael Tecklenburg, he said.

"The turning point when we began to shift gears from a runaway (case) was when we became aware that he had gathered some containers to box up the contents of her room. And that certainly wasn't consistent with the aggressive search he had mounted to locate this girl," Dunn said.

Word of the missing girl had spread throughout the state, in large part by fire agencies, and the Tecklenburgs had notified officials with a national missing children organization.

Volunteers helped post thousands of fliers through Lodi and Clements, and several half-page ads were placed in local newspapers. A $5,000 reward for her safe return soon doubled.

The search ended Monday night when the girl contacted her Stockton therapist, according to Sheriff's officials.

Michael Tecklenburg was working a regular shift that night when he received a call half-way through his 24-hour shift Monday night to pick up his daughter at Mary Graham Hall, according to Lodi Fire Chief Michael Pretz.

The therapist called Sheriff's investigators, and the girl then allegedly told them her adoptive father had sexually assaulted her during the past few months, Dunn said.

Earlier in the week, investigators had taken a computer from the Tecklenburg home to analyze it in hopes of finding chat room conversations that would lead them to the missing girl, Sheriff's spokeswoman Nellie Stone said.

It was then that investigators found graphic pre-teen pornography that had been downloaded from both the Internet and a digital camera. Investigators have not confirmed who downloaded the material, Dunn said.

Michael Tecklenburg was booked into jail still wearing a navy blue fire department-issued work shirt.

He has been a firefighter for 21 years and has no previous criminal record, Dunn said.

Tecklenburg was being housed under observation in the medical wing of the jail as a "transition period" before jailers determine where to place him, Stone said.

"This is his first time in jail, the charges he's facing are quite serious and the case is going to get a lot of notoriety," she said, adding that Tecklenburg is not on suicide watch.

Pretz was told of Tecklenburg's arrest Tuesday morning when three deputies arrived with a search warrant to look through the fire captain's locker and computers he had access to. The deputies did not provide information on what Tecklenburg was charged with, but told Pretz he was in jail, Pretz said.

Michael Tecklenburg has been placed on paid administrative leave from the Lodi Fire Department, pending the outcome of today's court proceedings.

"This is pretty new for our department. In fact, I would say it's a first," Pretz said, adding that he was working with the city attorney and human resources department.

By early Tuesday afternoon, the fire chief had not spoken to many of his employees and had not yet gauged their reaction.

"I think most folks will probably be shocked and feel sorrow, or disbelief," Pretz said. "Our thoughts still go out to the family."

News-Sentinel reporter Jennifer Pearson Bonnett contributed to this report.