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Woman to serve 180 days for stealing lunch money from student
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Kristen Rene Santoyo was sentenced to jail Tuesday for stealing lunch money from a special education student at Camarillo High School.
Santoyo was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 36 months probation, and was ordered to pay $285 in restitution. She was taken into custody immediately after the sentencing in Ventura County Superior Court.
The 37-year-old employee of the Oxnard Union High School District was arrested in November after the parents of the freshman student noticed their daughter would come home hungry without the usual $5 they would place daily in her bag.
The parents worked with law enforcement officials, who set up a camera in a classroom. Video evidence showed the suspect "taking money from the victim's property," Sheriff's Department spokesman Capt. Jerry Hernandez said after the arrest.
Posted by Split on March 4, 2008 at 11:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thats just wrong...you got to be a pretty pathetic person to still money from a special ed student
Posted by JeannetteMedrano on March 4, 2008 at 12:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Shame on her!!! She should of been ordered to pay more restitution than $285.00 and spend more time in jail!!
Posted by ROLL_IT_UP on March 4, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What kind of person does that? How horrible!
Posted by SueSue on March 4, 2008 at 12:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
PogueMahone & BillThebutcher: I bet you two did or maybe still do the same thing. Take advantage of people who can't defend themselves.
Only someone like that or someone, immature and ignorant would find this "funny", messed up but "funny".
Are you two on that show "Jackass"? It sounds like them. Idiots.
You two are MESSED UP, NOT funny, only MESSED UP.
Posted by zoezoe on March 4, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
suesue and billthebutcher.
There is nothig funny about this situation and neither of you are funny or clever.
Posted by connietrimble on March 4, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What the hell is wrong with people these days? Shame on the people who think this is funny. How would you like skipping lunch for days on end?
Posted by RC on March 4, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
good now this lady has 180 days to think about what she has done.It's bad enough to steal from a child but especially bad for stealing from a special ed student!
Posted by justmeinsp on March 4, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This story is Not funny AT all, just like Jackass show but per this link http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/w... I'm laffin' my jackass off!
Posted by keepermel on March 4, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
While spending those 180 days in jail,(which I am sure she will get let out early) they should not feed her lunch. We cant do that because she now has more rights than the student she stole from, but she would deserve it.
Posted by interested on March 4, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Did any of you read the article when it first came out? The woman was using the money to buy crack. Even worse.
Posted by Equitable_Enforcer on March 4, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't understand how she was hired in the first place. Consider the following, from court records:
11-26-01: Grand Theft - Convicted
05-17-05: Failure Register Vehicle - Forfeit Bail
06-04-05: Failure Register Vehicle - Forfeit Bail
There could be more on her record outside of Ventura County. I'm sure that the lawyers have already latched onto this hiring "oversight" for ammunition in the lawsuit that will ensue if a claim is not paid. Tax payers again get the short end of the stick thanks to a classic case of bureaucratic incompetency.
Posted by surfmedic91 on March 4, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
5'4", 240, it doesn't make senses being a crack smoker. That makes her as wide as she is tall. Maybe she rolled into the money. the article doesn't say what she did for the School District though.
Posted by Comments on March 4, 2008 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Funny? I can't believe that anyone would find even an ounce of humor in this story. Pathetic
I feel so sorry for this kid and am glad that the woman was caught. 6 months in jail ought to give her plenty of time to think things through. What scum.
Posted by Tabitha_D on March 4, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
wow, serioulsy, this is just messed up. how in the world do you even get the idea, HEY LETS TAKE THIS KIDS LUNCH MONEY...
i just don't understand some peoples thought process and how she reasoned and rationalized this out in her mind to be ok. ugh.
Posted by Hueneme_girl29 on March 4, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SchoolOfficial - judging by your name.....are you perhaps sticking up for her? Sounds like you maybe hired her? Hmmm......fishy.
Posted by Equitable_Enforcer on March 4, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SchoolOfficial - With a relatively recent grand theft conviction, how did Santoyo get hired in the first place? As an aid, what a great example she was, eh?
Posted by harlan on March 4, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you did that to my kid, you wouldn't have to worry about the cops & the courts. You'd have to worry about me and the rest of my kid's family. We'd videotape you on your knees begging and we'd put the video on YouTube, and you know what? Someone here would think it was funny. LOL.
Should I feel bad about having said that? Of course not, because nobody's perfect. Let's me off the hook, doesn't it?
Posted by tsu.lee on March 4, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This person is slime but 180 days in jail. 180 days that the tax payers have to feed & house her! Up the restitution by 300%, 30 days in jail and then stick her with a year of community service along with the probation.
Posted by Mr_E_Man on March 4, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You can try rationalizing it any way you want, but that still doesn't make it okay to make a kid go hungry. Especially a child with learning dissabilities who can't communicate the ongoing problem as readily. Whether it happened a half dozen time or all year long, it is still fundamentally a human-rights violation.
The woman should consider herself lucky that all she got was 180 days. Had it been my kid she was stealing from, "living" in jail would be the least of her worries.
Posted by harlan on March 4, 2008 at 4:09 p.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by RC on March 4, 2008 at 4:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody is perfect I agree but we all have choices that come with consequences and to steal money from a minor was a very bad choice. This thief was a school official and the kids probably trusted her and looked up to her
Posted by harlan on March 4, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"harlan
I think your comment was removed!"
Yeah, but YOU got to read it.
Posted by ebrockway on March 4, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SchoolOfficial is just a troll trying to stir things up for their own amusement. Probably created the nickname today just for this story.
The woman who stole the money is scum, her head is up alright, but not where you think.
Any so-called adult who steals from kids is a waste of skin, and add to that stealing from a special-ed kid is beneath even that. A waste of a huge amount of skin sounds like.
Posted by aplascencia , Moderator, on March 4, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
~~~ Warning from Moderator ~~~
Personal attacks, off-topic posts, instigating or other questionable commentary can and will be removed.
Repeat violation may lead to additional restrictions being placed on you account.
Thank you.
Posted by interested on March 4, 2008 at 4:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
School Official, What difference does it make if the child came home hungry or not? The fact is that the crackhead stole money from someone she was supposed to be taking care of. Where is her picture so we all know what she looks like and will be able to recognize her if she tries to get a job with kids again?
Posted by interested on March 4, 2008 at 4:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news...
Read this, she was caught with a glass pipe.
Posted by Comments on March 4, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How on earth anyone can defend this woman is beyond me. She is 37 yrs old and stole from a child - a special needs child at that. No, I'm not perfect. However, I obey the law and have since I've been an adult and have known better. I have not and would not steal from a child - or anyone else for that matter.
And frankly I don't care if it was one time or 50+ times that she stole. The fact is that she willingly stole. And, it's clear that she did so multiple times assuming that her prey wasn't capable enough to figure it out.
As far as I'm concerned she got off lightly with only 6 months given her past history.
Posted by BeaHappi on March 4, 2008 at 4:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Any adult who takes advantage of a kid is the lowest of the low. Stealing from a special ed student? How in the heck did this lady look herself in the (crack) mirror everyday?
While she's in jail she should have to miss 57 lunches to equal every day the student had to go without lunch.
Posted by CloudyDaze on March 4, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How can this person face each day knowing what she did. Is there no shame? Nothing about any of this is funny, just sad and sick. This person needs to be permanetly removed from society.
Posted by narc121 on March 4, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think SchoolOfficial is the one who needs "special" assistance since she actually is sticking up for this poor excuse of a human being! I hope her jail cell mates steal her lunch from her every 180 days! At 240lbs, this heffalump could afford to lose a few pounds!
Posted by ironwoman on March 4, 2008 at 5:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just hope that schoolofficial isn't a REAL SCHOOL OFFICIAL.
There is no excuse for taking kid's lunch money. Also, prop 36 is for drug offenders, not thieves.
Posted by imbetnonit on March 4, 2008 at 6:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WHAT A TURD!
Posted by caokie on March 4, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What's funny is the lawyers lining up to file a lawsuit against the school that we will have to pay now that's funny. If she was my child I would be the one in jail.
Posted by ReinadeRoma on March 4, 2008 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
People: Take a look at the postings by username "Cathain" following the Star's Nov. 20, 2007 article (see the link provided by "interested.") Judging by the content, defensive posturing, tone, structure and occasional semi-literate slip-ups, this is "SchoolOfficial." My guess is that he/she is a friend or family member of Ms. Santoyo. (At first, I wondered if "SchoolOfficial" might be Ms. Santoyo herself, but I noticed that she was remanded upon sentencing; it's unlikely that she'd be online tonight.) Only someone engaged in some kind of personal relationship with this defendant could find her conduct remotely excusable.
Posted by bill on March 4, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Five foot tall and 240 lbs... looks like she may have been stealing kids lunches also!
Posted by deepwater805 on March 5, 2008 at 12:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Low life doesn't even come close to describing this female type person.......
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