Ventura Coach Faces Sex Misconduct Charges

Ventura High football Coach Harvey Kochel was charged Friday by the Ventura County district attorney’s office with seven felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Kochel, 48, allegedly had a nine-month sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student from Ventura High. The student was 15 when the misconduct first occurred Jan. 1, 1992, according to the district attorney’s office.

Each of the seven counts involves the student, whose identity has not been disclosed. In addition, an investigation into possible sexual misconduct by Kochel involving minors in the past is ongoing, according to Lela Henke-Dobroth of the district attorney’s sexual assault unit.

Kochel is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Ventura Municipal Court. He faces three counts of intercourse with a minor, two counts of oral copulation with a minor under 18, one count of oral copulation with a minor under 16, and one count of performing a lewd act on a child.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, according to the district attorney’s office. Henke-Dobroth said sentences are determined by a variety of factors, including age of the victim, frequency of the violation, background of the defendant and whether a trust between the victim and defendant was broken.

Kochel, the school’s football coach for the past 13 years, was booked and released on his own recognizance Wednesday, two days after the Ventura Police Department began an investigation of the allegations. School officials initiated the investigation, police said.

Kochel, who turned himself in to police, is on paid administrative leave pending a decision by the Ventura Unified School District Board of Trustees. The board can suspend an employee without pay once charges are filed.

Paul Powers, Kochel’s attorney, did not return a phone call Friday.

Kochel is a 1962 graduate of Ventura High who has taught at the school since 1973. He is the winningest football coach in the school’s history.

Assistant Phil McCune has replaced Kochel on an interim basis.