David Lane Braff Jr., the Thousand Oaks man accused of sexually assaulting several children during his two-decade career as an educator, has been held to answer.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Julia Snyder determined during an April 28 preliminary hearing that the prosecution presented enough evidence to proceed with a trial.
“There is sufficient cause to believe the offenses have been committed,” she said.
Braff appeared in a Ventiura courtroom wearing a blue jail uniform with his ankles chained.
He previously pleaded not guilty to 33 counts of lewd acts upon a child and denied 141 special allegations, including that the victims were vulnerable and that he took advantage of a position of trust.
He faces a maximum sentence of 825 years to life in state prison, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators recall students’ allegations
During the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Emily Reber presented two witnesses: Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Investigators Greg Webb and Yumi Kirk. They testified about the forensic interviews they conducted with each of the 15 victims.
They said 13 of the victims were students at Santa Paula Unified School District’s McKevett Elementary School, where Braff worked as a counselor from 2015 through 2019. He resigned seven months after the district placed him on paid administrative leave, according to previous reporting.
The students ranged from kindergartners through fifth graders when the alleged assaults occurred, Webb and Kirk said. They said some reported experiencing only one incident, while others reported that the incidents spanned as many as four school years and as frequently as four times per week.
The majority of McKevett students said Braff directed them to sit on his lap and then touched various areas of their bodies, including their thighs, chests, buttocks and private parts, the witnesses testified. Other students, the witnesses testified, said Braff asked them for hugs before touching the same areas.
The DA’s office investigators said Braff often requested that the victims see him for counseling.
Braff allegedly called one victim into his office after the student’s friends notified him the student was suicidal and called another victim into his office after the student’s mother asked him to speak to the student about misbehavior at home. He allegedly asked a different victim to visit his office once after a hospital stay, telling her that he wanted to check in on her health, and another time after a meeting with the principal due to a conflict she had with another student over a slide, telling her that he would always have her back.
All of the McKevett victims said the door to Braff’s office was either closed or locked during the incidents, the witnesses said.
In an interview, Braff told the investigators that he wrote apology letters to four of the students at the school.
One of the victims, Webb said, was a student at Bright Star Schools in Los Angeles, where Braff worked as a counselor from 2019 through 2021.
The investigator said the Bright Star student reported that the assault occurred in third grade. The student was visibly upset about the death of his uncle when Braff approached him and escorted him to his office. Once inside, Braff sat on a chair next to him and touched his back, knee and thigh, the investigator testified.
At the student’s fourth-grade graduation, Braff took photos with the family and provided his phone number. He texted the student multiple times, and the family met with him at several restaurants, Webb said.
Another victim, Kirk said, was a summer volunteer at the Borchard Community Center in Thousand Oaks, where Braff worked for the Conejo Recreation and Park District. The witness said the victim told her the incidents happened in 2004 and 2005, when she was 11 and 12 years old.
While helping Braff set up and take down recreation classes at the center, he pulled the victim close to him on four separate occasions, touching her buttocks, thighs, back and chest, Kirk testified.
Kirk said the victim initially reported the incidents to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office after the Rancho Conejo Recreation and Park District notified the department, but the case was closed after the victim and Braff gave conflicting statements.
Investigators criticize police work
Webb and Kirk said they began investigating the Braff case after the Santa Paula Police Department requested the DA’s office’s assistance in reviewing roughly 50 cases that the department was unable to follow up on or close.
Braff’s case was one of several that Webb and Kirk determined the DA’s office needed to reexamine.
Webb said Braff’s file included minimal reports from students — only six of the 13 McKevett students ultimately included in the DA office’s complaint — and the reports that were there largely lacked follow-up investigation.
The police, Webb said, failed to conduct forensic interviews with several of the students, as is standard procedure, with no explanation. He said the interviews the department did conduct were often in inappropriate settings, such as on the school campus in front of other students.
“It lacked a thorough investigation that each victim deserved to have…” Webb said. “They deserved to have the proper follow-up to the case.”
Braff was arrested Nov. 22, 2024 and initially charged with 17 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child in relation to six students at McKevett Elementary School. Prosecutors amended their complaint twice to file additional charges after discovering more victims.
Braff’s arraignment on information is scheduled for June 3. The 43-year-old remains in custody at Todd Road Jail and is not eligible for bail.
Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at makena.huey@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: UPDATED: Ex-counselor in S.P. to stand trial in child molestation case
Reporting by Makena Huey, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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