LA teacher Mark Berndt accused of feeding own semen to kids is jailed on $23 million bail

The twisted teacher accused of spoon-feeding his semen to elementary school students is stuck in jail for the foreseeable future.

A Los Angeles County judge jacked his bail to $23 million from the initial $2.3 million Wednesday at the request of prosecutors.

Mark Bedt, 61, appeared in court to face charges he bound and blindfolded dozens of students and photographed them for sexual kicks.

Some photos show children with a giant live cockroach crawling on their faces; others show a blue plastic spoon allegedly filled with Bedt's semen held up to their mouths, authorities said.

Bedt allegedly told his students they were playing a "tasting game," Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told the Daily News.

The sick stunts behind Bedt's 23 counts of lewd acts against children took place between 2005 and 2010, authorities said.

The alleged victims were both girls and boys between the ages of 7 and 10.

The new sky-high bail represents the maximum $1 million for each count.

"He's looking at multiple potential life sentences. Each count carries a 15 years to life sentence," District Attoey spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons told The News.

Bedt, a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in South Los Angeles with three decades of experience, was busted after a film processor noticed 40 prints of the dastardly acts and tued them over to authorities.

Students are escorted to a bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary School in South Los Angeles after classes Tuesday. A teacher at the school, Mark Bedt, is facing 23 counts of lewd acts against children that allegedly took place between 2005 and 2010.  (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)

The investigation took more than a year, cops said, but school officials removed Bedt from his classroom months before his Monday arrest at his Torrance apartment.

The photos, along with hundreds more recovered from Bedt's home, show Bedt with his arms around some children or with his hands over their lips, cops said.

Some allegedly show children with tape over their mouths.

Several girls were photographed with a blue plastic spoon filled with an unknown clear white liquid up to their mouths as if they were going to ingest the substance, cops said.

Investigators later recovered a blue plastic spoon and an empty container from the trash in Bedt's classroom. Both tested positive for Bedt's semen, authorities said.

Sex crimes investigators also found adult poography in Bedt's apartment that "mirrored" the bondage-type photos of the children, cops said.

More than 26 children were identified in the 390 total photos, cops said. Ten kids have not yet been formally identified.

Bedt is due back in court for arraignment Feb. 21.