An assistant principal and school counselor was arrested on Friday and charged with molesting eight children at an elementary school in Santa Paula, California.
According to a news release by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, 42-year-old David Lane Braff, Jr. was arrested on Friday and charged with 17 felony counts of “lewd acts upon a child under 14 years old” after allegedly molesting eight students at McKevett Elementary School. Braff was scheduled to be arraigned in court on Monday afternoon.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office noted that the assistant principal and school counselor is “accused of a number of special allegations and aggravating factors in the criminal complaint, including that the crimes involved planning and sophistication and that the children entrusted to the defendant’s care were particularly vulnerable.”
According to Friday’s news release, Braff worked at McKevett Elementary School as a school counselor from 2015 to 2019. Braff allegedly molested eight children between six and ten years old in a school office. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office noted that an investigation was opened into Braff last month in partnership with the Santa Paula Police Department.
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“The defendant is alleged to have molested multiple elementary school children over a number of years, shattering the trust placed in him by parents, educators, and the public,” District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said. “We intend to vigorously prosecute this case and encourage others to come forward who may have information about additional victims and crimes. Given the defendant’s history of re-occurring access to children, this investigation and prosecution remains ongoing.”
According to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, Braff was working as an assistant principal and school counselor at the Ingenium Charter Middle School in Los Angeles before his arrest on Friday. Officials also noted that Braff is believed to have worked at other California schools and volunteered at undisclosed youth organizations.
Following the announcement of the charges against Braff, the Santa Paula Unified School District released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “Santa Paul Unified School District is aware of the recent arrest of a former employee regarding allegations of sexual abuse that occurred while the individual was employed with the District in 2018.”
The Santa Paula Unified School District explained that the district “took immediate action” and launched an internal investigation into the incident and worked closely with law enforcement officials “at the time of the allegations” against the former school counselor.
