Sex Abuse Convict Freed

A former Ventura County school board member found guilty of child molestation last year was ordered released from state prison Thursday pending reversal of his conviction.

In the next week, an appellate court is expected to overturn the conviction of 76-year-old Albert Rosen of Simi Valley in accordance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found the prosecution of decades-old sex abuse cases unconstitutional.

The ruling overturned part of a controversial California law that allowed prosecution of some sex offense cases even if the statute of limitations had expired, as long as district attorneys filed charges within a year of the offense being reported.

The decision affects an estimated 800 cases statewide, including about 20 in Ventura County.

Rosen, a former schoolteacher, was arrested two years ago after his children reported that they had been sexually abused by him in the late 1960s when they were ages 9 and 6.

Rosen waived a jury trial last year and allowed a judge to decide his case. He was convicted on nine counts and sentenced to one year to life in prison.

On Thursday, appellate attorney Wendy Lascher, who is working to reverse the conviction, asked Superior Court Judge Charles McGrath to order Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga to release her client pending action by the appellate court. County prosecutors did not oppose the request, and it was granted.

Also on Thursday, 25 molestation charges were dismissed and an arrest warrant recalled for Father Fidencio Silva, a Catholic priest accused of molesting at least eight boys. Silva, 53, ran the altar boy program at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Oxnard from 1978 to 1986. He is thought to be in Mexico.