School Chief to Be Charged With Molesting Girl

The director of Oaks Christian Middle School in Westlake Village will be arraigned Thursday in Ventura County Superior Court on 15 felony counts of molesting a 13-year-old female student whose family he had befriended.

Jonathan Andreas, 36, was arrested at a Thousand Oaks residence Saturday. The girl’s parents reported the alleged incidents to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department last week, said Cmdr. Keith Parks of the Thousand Oaks sheriff’s station.

Ventura County investigators said that Andreas, who was being held Tuesday in Ventura County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, allegedly molested the girl several times this year at multiple locations in Thousand Oaks. Parks declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation, but said there were no other known victims.

“He had become a friend of the young girl and her family through connections at school and took advantage of the relationship,” Parks said Tuesday after the arrest was announced.

School officials fired Andreas on Tuesday, said Tom Konjoyan, director of development for the sprawling campus, which includes the middle school and a high school. The officials learned about the arrest Sunday from the Sheriff’s Department, he said.

About 180 students attend the middle school, which Andreas of Thousand Oaks had managed since Oaks Christian opened two years ago. Konjoyan declined to provide Andreas’ employment history but said he had taught at several private schools in Southern California before Oaks Christian.

School officials released a statement Tuesday expressing sympathy for the Thousand Oaks girl and her family.

Konjoyan said school officials knew nothing about the allegations before Sunday and are cooperating with the Sheriff’s Department, while contacting parents of students who will attend grades six to eight in the fall.

“In the days ahead, we intend to communicate with those who love this school and to listen to their concerns,” Headmaster Jeff Woodcock said in the statement. “Our intention is to be as open and forthcoming as possible.”

Andreas appeared in court briefly Tuesday for his arraignment, which was postponed because his lawyer could not attend. He wore a light blue jail uniform and exchanged a few words with his stand-in attorney.

Should Andreas post bail and be released from jail, he was ordered by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin J. McGee to refrain from contact with the girl or her family, to surrender his passport and to stay away from computers.

Andreas is considered a flight risk because he had substantial contacts with people in other countries through tutoring he had done, said Lisa Lyytikainen of the Ventura County district attorney’s office. He was barred from using computers and having access to the Internet because the investigation showed that he had considerable contact with the girl via e-mail, Lyytikainen said.

In addition to the 15 charges of lewd and lascivious contact with a child under the age of 14 that will be filed against him Thursday, Andreas will face special allegations of substantial sexual conduct with a minor, which could lead to a harsher sentence if he is convicted, Lyytikainen said.