An Orcutt man charged earlier this year with 17 counts of inappropriate sexual contact with four young girls over several years at a daycare in his home has died.  

Ernest Lattimer, 79, of Santa Maria had been in custody since January in connection with a criminal case. 

He died at 8:17 a.m. Monday at Villa Maria Post Acute, where he was receiving medical care outside of the Northern Branch Jail, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Raquel Zick said Monday.

Lattimer had been housed at the Northern Branch Jail before being transported to an area hospital for medical care on July 30, Zick added.

Due to his extensive medical issues, Lattimer remained outside of the jail receiving medical care for more than two months. 

He was subsequently transferred from the hospital to Villa Maria Post Acute, a skilled nursing facility, where he most recently had been receiving care.

The Sheriff’s Office began investigating the allegations against Lattimer in 2019 after a then-19-year-old reported she had been raped from ages 7 to 12 at a daycare in Orcutt. 

Another girl claimed he started touching her inappropriately when she was 5 years old and stopped when she was an eighth-grader. 

The defendant and his wife reportedly were family friends and babysat multiple children, according to a declaration submitted by a detective.

The alleged inappropriate sexual contact occurred when he was alone with the children while his wife ran errands, the detective’s declaration said.

The criminal complaint lists four young girls as the victims, with the alleged acts occurring between 1998 and 2010. Detectives say the incidents occurred between 1995 and 2012.

The girls all said the abuse stopped after they grew older, with one recalling him reportedly saying, “You’re not a little girl anymore.”

The alleged criminal acts occurred at an in-home childcare facility on the 800 block of Emerald Court.

He was arrested in January after detectives served warrants at the man’s residence on the 3900 block of Chatham Way and remained in custody with bail set at $1 million. 

He had pleaded not guilty to the various felony charges, including sexual intercourse with a child under 10, sexual penetration with a child under 10, and lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14. He also faced special allegations or sentencing enhancements.

A preliminary hearing for the criminal case tentatively had been set to occur Oct. 20.

“Because Lattimer remained in Sheriff’s Office custody at the time of his death, his death is being investigated and reported as an in-custody death,” Zick said.

Per standard procedure, the Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau is conducting an investigation to determine the official cause and manner of death. In accordance with Sheriff’s Office policy, a separate administrative review is also underway.

Santa Barbara County contracts with Villa Maria Post Acute to provide county inmates with specialized medical care not available at the jail. 

The Board of Supervisors recently approved a contract providing skilled nursing care to inmates for a three-year period starting July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2028.

According to a report, the Sheriff’s Office reviews whether than inmate could be released from custody instead of being sent to a skilled nursing care facility because of needing one-on-one care. 

Those reviews assess the individual’s criminal history, their current incarceration circumstances (pre-trial or sentenced), their alleged crimes, their risk to the community and more.

The county staff report didn’t refer to any patients by name, but noted the decision to use the skilled nursing facility.

“The Sheriff’s Office consulted with many of the justice partners and determined that this individual was not suitable for release from custody due to the seriousness of his alleged offenses and the duration of his alleged criminal activity,” the staff report said.

Villa Maria is the only skilled nursing facility willing to accept jail inmates, county staff said.