Girl, 15, Suspected of Molesting a 2nd Pupil From Grade School

Police say a teenage girl who apparently posed as a teacher’s aide and then sexually molested a kindergartner at a Camarillo school last year is now suspected of luring another girl from the same campus to molest her last week.

The 15-year-old suspect, who lives near Camarillo Heights Elementary School, allegedly enticed a 9-year-old girl from the campus after the younger girl’s mother dropped her off March 12, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Williams said.

After convincing the girl to skip school, authorities said, the teenager took her to her house and sexually molested her for several hours.

The news came as a shock to parents of the kindergartner, who are suing the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District, charging negligence.

“That this happened is such a tragedy,” said the first victim’s mother. “It could have been prevented.”

In their lawsuit, the parents allege school officials failed to notice that the then-14-year-old suspect--although apparently not enrolled at the campus--posed as a sixth-grade student aide for several days last spring in a Camarillo Heights kindergarten class.

The suit alleges the kindergartner was molested twice by the teenager on April 1--behind a puppet theater in the classroom and in the school’s restroom. When the child attempted to scream for help, the teenager allegedly placed a hand over the child’s mouth to muffle the cries.

School officials declined to comment on either case. Nor would they say if the girl was enrolled at Camarillo Heights or how the school’s student-aide program is run. The program has sixth-graders helping in kindergarten classes.

“It is an issue that will arise in the litigation and at this time I don’t feel it’s appropriate to explain it,” said Carol Woo, the district’s attorney.

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The suspect, who was placed on informal probation without trial after the first case, is in custody at a Ventura County juvenile facility, authorities said. She now faces charges not only in connection with the latest incident, but also for the April 1 case.

The mother of the 5-year-old victim, now 6, learned of the latest incident while attending a court hearing Wednesday. She arrived expecting the hearing to be about her daughter but was surprised when the suspect was brought into court in shackles. She learned then that the girl had been arrested in another case.

“I sat there and it was like someone punched me in the stomach,” the mother said. “I was so shocked and heartbroken. . . . Since then, I have been grieving for this other child and am in such a state of sadness about it.”

Beyond their anger at school officials over the first case, the parents wonder how school officials could have let the teenager get near the campus again--and why a juvenile-court judge let her go free with only informal probation.

“The school district and the principal himself should have taken full responsibility for insuring the safety of the children on that campus,” the kindergartner’s mother said.

“I pulled my daughter out of the school because I did not feel comfortable for one minute that she would be secure,” she said.

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The informal probation--which defers prosecution if the suspect keeps a clean record--was handed down by Judge Charles McGrath. The judge said he does not remember the case, but “it would be unusual to be put on informal probation” with such a charge.

The mother said she filed a claim against the school district April 15, but that the district never responded.

“The district could have avoided all of this,” said Paul Runes, the family’s attorney. “They let the time run out on the original claim, and that’s what led to the filing of the lawsuit and making this a public issue.”

Runes said the victim’s family wants compensation for the harm she suffered.

“There has been traumatic, significant damage which will be long-lasting and needs to be treated,” he said. “These are needs the district needs to confront.”

The 5-year-old has been in weekly therapy since she told her mother about the incident.

The mother said she could tell something was wrong as she arrived at school to pick up her daughter and saw her standing next to the teenager outside the school.

“She’s usually chipper and happy and springy,” she said. “On that day, she looked like a crushed little creature. Her shoulders were all hunched over as she looked at the ground.

“She seemed sad and quiet and meek,” the mother said. “She looked like a limp washrag when I went to take her hand.”