Ventura County Sheriff – – Incident Press Release
In December of 2019, Thousand Oaks Police Department School Resource Officers began to investigate a report of a female juvenile victim who received, via social media, sexually explicit photos and videos involving an unknown male. The subject was later was identified as an adult male. In addition, several other victims, including multiple sexual assault female juvenile victims, were identified. The investigation culminated with the arrest of (A) Raul Garcia at his residence on August 21, 2020.
Detectives were able to identify Garcia as a suspect through further investigation and obtained a search warrant for his residence. Evidence located during a search of Garcia’s residence led to the discovery of three additional female juvenile victims. The victims were contacted by detectives and further investigation led to Garcia being suspected of committing sexual assaults against each of the three juvenile victims, all on separate occasions. Garcia was using social media to prey on juvenile victims for the purpose sending sexually explicit photos as a lure to befriend them and even meet with them to commit sexual assaults.
Garcia was booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility on the following charges: 288.2(a) PC – sending harmful matter to a minor, 261.5(c) PC – unlawful sexual intercourse, 311.4(c) PC – using a minor for sexual acts, 311.11(a) PC – possession of child pornography, 220(a)(2)PC – assault of a minor, and 289(h) PC – genital penetration by a foreign object. Garcia’s bail is set at $250,000 and he is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court at arraignment on August 25, 2020, at 1:30 pm.
Due to the nature of this investigation, detectives believe there may be additional victims and encourage anyone with information to contact Thousand Oaks Police Department School Resource Officer, Deputy Amber Voorhees, at (805) 947-9298.
Sexual predators commonly create social media accounts with fake profiles, using photos that make them appear to be a school-aged youth, which makes it easier to communicate with minors. As a reminder to parents of school-aged children, please monitor their social media activity and encourage them to: make their accounts private through settings on websites or phone apps; do not text or contact strangers or any account that is unknown to them; and do not accept “friend” or “follow” requests from accounts they are not familiar with or do not know the identity of the user.
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