The lawyer representing former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Robert Pimentel — who is accused of sexually abusing 20 students — asserted his client's innocence following an arraignment hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court in Long Beach on Thursday at which Pimentel pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The court set a hearing for Jan. 31 in advance of a preliminary hearing, which was set for Feb 7. Pimentel is being held in lieu of $12 million bail, which his lawyer said he would seek to reduce.

Speaking to reporters, defense attorney Richard Knickerbocker said: "Right now we have accusations, and that's all we have is accusations. We don't even have a determination that there's probable cause for anything other than the fact that a police officer ... got an arrest warrant and he was arrested. ... "

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