Former Prison Teacher Denies Sexually Assaulting 2 Teenagers
Former Ventura School teacher Bradley Gardner pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he sexually assaulted two female wards at the youth prison between 1996 and 1998.
Gardner, a 42-year-old Camarillo resident, denied four felony counts of oral copulation with the teenage students.
He also pleaded not guilty to one count of penetration with a foreign object.
Gardner, an industrial arts education teacher at the youth prison since 1991, remains free on $20,000 bail.
A court date is set for June 15, at which time attorneys are expected to schedule a preliminary hearing.
Gardner was arrested Jan. 27, but his Ventura County Superior Court arraignment was postponed four times as the defense pressed prosecutors for hundreds of pages of documents.
Specifically, the defense sought a 103-page inspector general’s report on alleged mismanagement and sexual misconduct at Ventura School, a coed California Youth Authority prison near Camarillo.
Last week, a judge denied Gardner access to the report, and prosecutor Linda Groberg said she would not agree to any more postponements.
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