Community
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
Boarding School Reports Decades of Sexual Misconduct
| Nature of Incident: | Boarding School Reports Decades of Sexual Misconduct | ||||
| Report Number: | 21-74012 | ||||
| Location: | The Thacher School, 5025 Thacher Road, Ojai, CA 93023 | ||||
| Date & Time: | June 7th, 2021 | ||||
| Unit(s) Responsible: | Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit |
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| Narrative: | |||||
| The Thacher School located in Ojai, CA recently disclosed decades of sexual abuse and misconduct by former employees and students. On June 7th, 2021, representatives from the Thacher School and the law firm Munger, Tolles, & Olsen (MTO) contacted the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office to provide limited details regarding numerous allegations of past sexual abuse and misconduct, which occurred at the school. The following day, investigators with the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit were informed MTO conducted a wide-ranging investigation into the allegations and an extensive report with additional details would be released to investigators the following week, the same day it was released to the public. The MTO investigative report outlined decades of past sexual abuse and misconduct dating back to the early 1960s. Some of the allegations were previously reported to the Sheriff’s Office; however, the majority were not. Investigators are currently working with MTO and Thacher representatives in order to contact the named and unnamed victims, suspects, and witnesses listed in the report. Every allegation will be evaluated to determine if a crime occurred and if the statute of limitations will allow for the prosecution of any offense(s). The Sheriff’s Office believes there may be additional victims or witnesses who were not contacted and/or included in the MTO investigative report. Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to call Sergeant Hector Macias at (805) 384-4730. We know survivors of sexual assault and abuse are often reluctant to come forward for many different reasons. Just know there are resources available to you regardless of your decision to participate in a criminal investigation. Anyone impacted by these events is encouraged to contact the Ventura County Family Justice Center for assistance: The Ventura County Family Justice Center is located at 3170 Loma Vista Road in Ventura. During business hours, Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., requests for services and information are available in person, by telephone (805) 652-7655, by e-mail at [email protected] or via text at (805) 947-7981. |
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| Prepared by: | Sergeant Hector Macias | ||||
| News Release Date: | June 24th, 2021 | ||||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Sergeant Tim Lohman (805) 947-8255 [email protected] |
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| Approved by: Booking Photo Release: |
Captain Alan Hartkop YES NO |
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Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
Address/Location
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
800 S Victoria Ave
Ventura, CA 93003
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-654-9511