Detectives are investigating allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct by a former employee of Cate School in Carpinteria, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
The investigation was launched April 1 “by mandated reporters outside of the school speaking on behalf of the sexual assault survivors,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said. “These allegations occurred while the suspect was employed at Cate School and occurred on the school property.”
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 of these allegations, according to Zick.
“Detectives have identified several sexual assault survivors in this case who are both current and former students of Cate School,” she said. “While the investigation is ongoing, we will be refraining from identifying the suspect in order to protect the integrity of the case and ensure justice for the survivors.”
Investigators are working with Cate School officials and “their legal representatives to contact” the sexual assault victims, along with locating and identifying other potential witnesses to allegations of sexual misconduct, Zick said.
Sheriff’s detectives believe there may be more survivors or witnesses who had not been located or contacted as of Thursday, Zick said.
The Sheriff’s Office asked that anyone with information related to this investigation contact detective Sgt. Mark Valencia at 805.681.4150.
“The Sheriff’s Office is aware that survivors of sexual assault and abuse are often reluctant to come forward for many different reasons,” Zick said. “We have many resources available regardless of your decision to participate in a criminal investigation.”
In a statement, Head of School Ben Williams said, “We are cooperating with an investigation by local law enforcement into alleged sexual misconduct by a former employee, who worked at Cate School for six months, and whose employment was terminated in February of 2020.
“Cate School had also alerted Child Protective Services to potential inappropriate conduct by the employee last year. Per the request of the Sheriff’s Department, we are not sharing the suspect’s name in order to protect the integrity of the pending criminal investigation.”
Williams provided the following additional information to the Cate School community:
“In hopes of aiding law enforcement in obtaining any information they may need, and at their request, we have provided the detectives at the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department with the contact information of all parents of students who attended Cate School during the period of time in question,” Williams said. “Please share any relevant information if contacted.”
Because the investigation is ongoing, Williams said, “there is no other information that we can provide at this time.
“As always, we remain committed to maintaining safety and care for our students. We conduct regular reviews of all school policies relating to student safety and support to ensure that our training and protocols consistently reflect the most current and best-in-class practices. We also continue to provide extensive, ongoing training for faculty and staff around boundaries and professional conduct.”
Cate School is a 4-year, co-educational college preparatory school with boarding and day students, according to the school’s website.
The investigation at Cate School in Carpinteria comes in the wake of allegations of student sexual misconduct and harassment by faculty members at The Thacher School in Ojai, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. The Thacher School is a co-educational boarding high school.
— 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.
