Ex-Ojai private school teacher appears in court, pleads not guilty to sex assault charges
A former Ojai private school teacher suspected of sexually assaulting a student over several years pleaded not guilty to 23 felony charges in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday morning.
Ventura County Sheriff's detectives allege Paul Herder, 65, coerced a juvenile student at Oak Grove School into numerous sexual acts and sent "harmful matter to the victim" over the course of an unlawful relationship from August 2013 through June 2017.
The former teacher — who Oak Grove officials said worked at the private preschool to grade 12 school from 2004 to 2016 — appeared in court on Friday.
He faces felony charges, including multiple counts of unlawful intercourse, lewd acts with a child and other sex-related crimes. The individual charges are dated between June 2014 and April 2017.
Two of the charges carry special enhancements that the alleged victim was under the age of 18. Almost all the counts come with a special enhancement alleging that Herder took advantage of a position of trust.
Herder waived arraignment proceedings, pleaded not guilty to every charge and denied each of the special allegations, court records show, before returning to Ventura County jail.
Bail for the man, who was extradited from Pahoa, Hawaii, was initially set at $1 million, but Deputy District Attorney Emily Reber said the option was rescinded during a court hearing on Tuesday. He is currently being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 24.
The former student was between the ages of 14 and 17 during the time of the alleged crimes, officials said.
Joel Keeler, a school spokesperson, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday that the student first reported the allegations to school staff, who "immediately" notified law enforcement.
Detectives from the sheriff's Major Crimes Unit said they were alerted to the case in February and by June had tracked Herder to the Big Island. Sheriff's deputies worked with the Hawaii Police Department to arrest him before his Monday extradition.
Detectives said they believe that Herder — whose teaching career took him through Ojai, Hawaii, England, Panama and Thailand — may have had additional victims. If anyone has any information regarding Herder or this case, please contact Detective Nicole Grover of the Major Crimes Bureau, Sexual Assault Unit at 805-384-4722 or nicole.grover@ventura.org.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ex-Ojai teacher pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges
