Sex abuse suspicions reported 2 years before arrest of school board member in Calif.

Sex abuse fears raised 2 years before Calif arrest

OXNARD, Calif. — The head of a school board wants an investigation into Ventura County’s handling of molestation reports filed nearly two years before a board member was charged with fathering a student’s child.

“I think the system is broken and there needs to be an investigation,” Rio School District Board President Tim Blaylock said in a story Thursday in the Ventura County Star.

“Children need to be protected, and we need some answers,” he said.

Board member Brian Martin was arrested in February for investigation of molesting the girl for five years beginning in 2005 when she was 10, and fathering a child born in November.

The 49-year-old Martin has pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse of a child. He was free on $250,000 bail and could face 25 years in state prison if convicted of all charges.

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 prosecutions.

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.