School Officials Try to Calm Parents’ Fears About Molestation Reports

CAMARILLO — An elementary school principal met with parents and sent a letter home with children on Monday in an effort to calm fears over news that a 15-year-old girl is suspected of molesting two girls from the school.

The Times reported Saturday that the girl allegedly posed as a sixth-grade student aide and molested a kindergartner last April at Camarillo Heights Elementary School.

While on informal probation in connection with that offense, police say, she was arrested on suspicion of molesting a 9-year-old girl March 12 at her home near the campus.

In his letter to parents Monday, Camarillo Heights Principal Donald Hart acknowledged concerns expressed by parents over the weekend, but insisted they have little to fear.

“While I cannot, due to confidentiality issues, go into details about these matters, let me reassure you that we have a very safe campus,” he wrote.

Some parents weren’t satisfied.

“You know what? Parents think this letter is baloney,” said one parent who declined to give her name. “A lot of parents think this is a worthless piece of paper. . . . This is real frightening--the parents want to know where it happened.”

Several angry parents said they first learned about the incidents in The Times’ story Saturday. They wanted to know why school officials did not notify them of the incidents and why the same teenager was allegedly able to molest a second child from the school.

School officials sent a letter to parents about a month after the first incident, describing it as “inappropriate touching.” According to a lawsuit filed by parents of the kindergartner, the teenage girl molested the 5-year-old twice on April 1, 1997--in the school’s bathroom and behind a puppet theater in the classroom.

The lawsuit accuses the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District of negligence for not preventing the molestation.

The second incident occurred after the teenager invited the 9-year-old student to skip school, authorities say. Two days later, the victim went to the teenager’s house, where she was molested for several hours, authorities say.

Anticipating that parents would want to talk about the incidents, Hart and four district officials met with about 10 parents shortly after 8 a.m. Monday to respond to their questions.

“We reiterated the fact that we do have a very safe campus and that we do take matters seriously here at school regarding any children in a safety situation,” Hart said.

While waiting to pick up their children Monday after school, however, most parents said they had heard nothing of the meeting.

“We know someone who works here, and they didn’t even know about the molestation or the meeting,” said Joe McCullen, parent of a 7-year-old. “There’s been no information provided on either. . . . We want to know more about this, especially since the girl lives right in the neighborhood.”

Hart said Monday afternoon that he is planning to schedule another meeting that will be advertised to all parents within the next week.

One parent whose husband attended Monday morning’s meeting said security options were discussed, such as setting up a system to call parents when their children are not in school and requiring all volunteers to wear identification badges.

The 15-year-old is in custody at a Ventura County juvenile facility awaiting arraignment next month. Prosecutors expect to charge her in connection with last year’s incident as well as the latest one, alleging that the latter violated terms of her informal probation.