California school board member pleads guilty to child sexual abuse

CA school board member pleads guilty to sex abuse

OXNARD, Calif. — A California school board member pleaded guilty Thursday to molesting a young girl over a five-year period when prosecutors said she had his baby.

Brian Martin, 49, pleaded guilty to continuous sexual abuse of a child and an additional count of child molestation.

The member of the Rio School District in Ventura County also admitted a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury upon a child victim and engaging in substantial sexual conduct with her.

Prosecutors said the girl was molested beginning in 2005 when she was 10.

Martin was being held without bail and could face 21 years in prison at his scheduled sentencing on May 17.

Rio School District Board President Tim Blaylock has called for an investigation into Ventura County’s handling of molestation reports filed nearly two years before Martin was charged.

“I think the system is broken and there needs to be an investigation,” Blaylock told the Ventura County Star. “Children need to be protected, and we need some answers.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney Anthony Wold said he was confident the county and Oxnard police had done the best they could under the facts made available at that time.

Jennie Pittman, senior manager of the county Human Services Agency, which oversees Child Protective Services, said the agency cooperates with law enforcement in ongoing investigations of child abuse but confidentiality rules prevent officials from commenting on specific cases.

Employees of the district in Oxnard reported suspected abuse to county authorities at least six times between April 2008 and December 2009, said Superintendent Sherianne Cotterell, who made two of the reports.

The reports were based on statements the girl made to employees and at least four other students, Cotterell said.

“I think we did what we believe we’re supposed to do,” she said. “We kept reporting it.”

However, none of the allegations led to prosecution.

The girl denied any abuse when authorities interviewed her, and county child welfare officials ruled that at least one report was unfounded, Cotterell said.

Cotterell said more should have been done to protect the girl. Something fell short “and I feel like someone has paid a huge price,” she said.