TRACY . (AP) — A Northern California elementary school teacher is facing charges that he molested 12 children.

Fifty-nine-year-old Darrel Golden appeared in a San Joaquin County courtroom on Tuesday on 22 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child and 11 counts of misdemeanor child molestation. Golden told a judge he would get his own attorney. The judge set bail at $22 million.

Golden is a fourth grade teacher at Traina Elementary School in Tracy. According to a grand jury indictment, he molested children in 2006, 2007 and in 2012. District officials say authorities have been investigating Golden since a district employee reported seeing him touch a student inappropriately.

A call to the District Attorney's Office to see whether Golden had retained an attorney was not immediately returned.