A former employee of Cate School in Carpinteria, who is under investigation for alleged sexual abuse and misconduct, was arrested last month following allegations of sexual assault involving female students at a private school in Colorado.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Da’Jon James, 27, was arrested in late July on suspicion of two felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, and one misdemeanor count of unlawful sexual contact.
James taught at the Dawson School, a private school for students in grades K-12, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives met with four female students and their parents, who reported their music teacher, James, “had touched them sexually,” the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said.
It was reported that the alleged crimes began in January 2021 and continued until the report was made in early February, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The four female students disclosed they were subjected to inappropriate language, sexually explicit imagery, prolonged hugging, fondling, inappropriate complementing, and inappropriate kissing on their foreheads,” the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said. “All the alleged incidents occurred on school property during school hours.”
In February, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office deputies were contacted by Boulder County Child Protective Services regarding a possible sexual assault on a student by a teacher.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff‘s Lt. Robert Minter confirmed that James is a suspect in the investigation at Cate School.
“Our investigation is still ongoing,” Minter said Friday.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced last month that detectives are investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct by a former employee of Cate School.
James worked at Cate School in Carpinteria for six months, and his employment was terminated in February 2020, according to school officials.
On June 24, sheriff’s detectives and county District Attorney’s Office investigators served search warrants at the Cate School campus, 1960 Cate Mesa Road, to gather potential evidence to further the investigation, sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said previously.
“Detectives have identified several sexual assault survivors in this case who are both current and former students of Cate School,” Zick said.
The Sheriff’s Office asked that anyone with information related to this investigation contact Sgt. Mark Valencia at 805.681.4150.
On Friday, Cate School provided Noozhawk the following statement:
“Our policies at Cate around hiring are clear and comprehensive. Every potential Cate employee is thoroughly interviewed, reference checked, and must submit to a full background check, including fingerprinting, before being hired.
“The school does not deviate from or abbreviate that process under any circumstances. An employee who does not meet school standards and is terminated receives no letter of recommendation or reference from the school.”
The statement continued: “Law enforcement and/or Child Welfare Services is notified in accordance with our reporting responsibilities. In the case under investigation by the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office involving Da’Jon James, all school protocols were followed in his hiring and with respect to his termination six months later on March 3, 2020.
“His behavior was reported by the school to Child Welfare Services, and the head of school and assistant head informed would-be inquiring employers of Mr. James’ termination and the reasons for it.”
Cate School is a four-year, co-educational college preparatory school with boarding and day students, according to the school’s website.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
