When jurors returned to a west Los Angeles courtroom earlier this month to reach a verdict in a child sex abuse case, one key person was missing: the defendant.
John Kalil, an experienced piano teacher who has given lessons to the families of several powerful Hollywood actors, faced allegations of sexual abuse of one of his students in 2013.
Kalil, 69, pleaded not guilty in 2016 to committing an indecent act with a teenage student but later fought to have that plea overturned after realizing a felony conviction would be grounds for deportation to his native Australia. He was then retried by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and he was released on his own recognizance while the case was pending.
On Oct. 8 — the same day an airport courthouse jury found him guilty of five counts of sexual assault — Kalil slipped out of the country, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department statement and court records.
The sheriff's department has not said where they believe Kalil fled. Court records show prosecutors filed for an “extradition/fugitive warrant,” but it did not include any details about how he escaped and a spokesman for the district attorney's office declined to answer questions.
Kalil's lawyer, Kate Hardy, said she last saw her client when she drove him home from court on October 7, the day before his sentencing, and had had no contact with him since then. Kalil has been a legal permanent resident of the United States since the 1980s, Hardy said. Attempts by The Times to contact Kalil were unsuccessful.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to discuss what steps would be needed to return Kalil to custody in Los Angeles. Hardy said her client faces a minimum of 10 years in prison upon sentencing.
Hardy accused prosecutors of pursuing a “vindictive prosecution” against Kalil, who has already served a year in prison and spent time in a federal immigration detention center after his initial plea deal.
Kalil taught private lessons in Los Angeles for more than a quarter century, and his clients included “Hollywood industry professionals and students with successful music careers,” according to his website. The webpage featured testimonials from creators of critically acclaimed television series including “Mad Men” and “Orange is the New Black,” who praised his work with their children.
Emmy Award-winning animation director Genndy Tartakovsky, who created several acclaimed cartoons including “Dexter's Laboratory” and “Samurai Jack,” also called Kalil “a gift,” according to the site.
“I have never seen my three children more inspired or as enthusiastic about anything as your piano lessons,” Tartakovsky said, according to an early version of Kalil’s business website.
The reviews disappeared from the website on Monday after The Times began contacting representatives of those cited.
Representatives for Jenji Kohan, the creator of Orange Is the New Black, and Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men, both denied that Kalil gave any endorsement or permission to post any comments on his website. A representative for Tartakovsky declined to comment. Court records show Tartakovsky's wife and one of his children, a former student of Kalil's, testified in court on the teacher's behalf.
“Mr. Kalil has always maintained his innocence and entered into a plea bargain on the advice of his attorney to avoid a harsher sentence if he lost at trial,” Hardy said. “He later learned the consequences of immigration when he was detained in an immigration detention center for 8 years. [or] 9 months and faced the removal procedure.”
Hardy argued that her client was the victim of a “trial tax,” which refers to how prosecutors often seek to punish defendants more harshly when they plead not guilty. Hardy also said Sheriff's Department detectives interviewed many of Kalil's students “and did not find a single student who complained of Kalil's inappropriate behavior.”
For recording:
15:36 October 23, 2025An earlier version of this story said John Kalil's alleged victim reported abuse that occurred when he was between 15 and 17 years old. Prosecutors say the first incident occurred when the boy was 12 years old.
The alleged victim in the case first contacted the sheriff's department in 2015. The boy said he was 12 years old when Kalil first behaved inappropriately, asking to “take measurements [the victim’s] body parts, including the penis,” court records state.
Kalil later convinced the boy that they should masturbate together during a FaceTime call because “that's what friends do,” recordings show. Prosecutors said the boy was only 13 years old at the time.
Prosecutors allege that when the victim was 15, Kalil invited him over in September 2013 and they smoked marijuana together before performing oral sex.
The victim's friend also testified at trial that Kalil attempted to have sexual relations with him, but he was not charged, according to court records. Hardy said her client had no physical contact with the boy.
After taking a plea deal, Kalil was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ordered deported. He successfully challenged his removal before the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2019, according to his former immigration lawyer, Mfon Anthony Ikon.
Ikon said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security then abandoned efforts to deport Kalil.
Representatives for ICE and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
In 2022, records show, Kalil persuaded a judge to dismiss his original sex crimes charge on the grounds that he did not fully understand the impact it would have on his immigration status.
Dmitry Gorin, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor who has tried cases in the area for the past three decades, said defendants disappearing on the eve of sentencing are rare but not unprecedented.
“This is an unusual situation,” he said. “But people's behavior can be very unpredictable when they're facing a huge prison sentence.”
