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School worker accused of filming girls in locker room
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More from Breaking NewsA maintenance worker accused of placing a video camera in the girls’ locker room at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village could face charges including producing child pornography, authorities said today.
Hilario Medina, 39, of Van Nuys could face six counts of producing child pornography and 12 counts of concealing a camera for purposes of sexual gratification, said Capt. Joe Gutierrez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau.
Medina was arrested Monday afternoon at Oaks Christian. He admitted to sheriff’s deputies that he owned a camera found on campus and that he used it to film girls in the locker room, according to Gutierrez.
The Sheriff’s Department began investigating the case after a school employee found a video camera wrapped in a jacket on a maintenance cart on campus, Gutierrez said.
The employee called police after watching the tape to determine whom it belonged to and discovering that it contained images of girls — apparently in the locker room — in various stages of undress, Gutierrez said.
The number of counts Medina could face refers to the total of 18 girls who appear in the videotape, authorities said. The tape is of poor quality, Gutierrez said.
Medina, a maintenance worker at Oaks Christian who was hired by a contractor about a year ago, was being held in Los Angeles County Jail this morning in lieu of $160,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court in Van Nuys on June 9.
Oaks Christian Headmaster Jeffrey Woodcock on Tuesday sent a letter to parents about the incident. School officials this morning held a meeting about the incident for parents and students.
Posted by Hueneme_girl29 on May 22, 2008 at 7:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is sick! Glad they arrested his A$$!
Posted by pjlove10 on May 22, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
S!CK Bastard!
Posted by pjlove10 on May 22, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
S!CK Bastard!
Posted by JohnGC on May 22, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A far better report on the matter:
A custodian at Oaks Christian School was arrested this week on suspicion of secretly videotaping at least 18 female students in a locker room at the Westlake Village campus.
Hilario Hernandez Medina, 39, was arrested Monday at the school and booked on charges of possession and control of child pornography, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Medina worked for a maintenance contractor used by the school, according to the school's headmaster. He had been at the school for about a year, Whitmore said.
Last weekend, an employee at the grades six-to-12 private school found a video camera wrapped in a T-shirt on a maintenance cart. The video camera contained what Whitmore called "inappropriate images" of girls. The school administration contacted the Sheriff's Department.
In a letter to parents, Headmaster Jeffrey H. Woodc--- described the alleged conduct "as a 'Peeping Tom' incident involving a video camera and the Girls' Locker Room."
Medina, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, remains jailed in lieu of $160,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Van Nuys Superior Court on June 9 for a pretrial hearing.
"Obviously we are deeply saddened by the outrageous conduct that was perpetrated and the surreptitious invasion of our campus community," Woodc--- wrote. "I ask for your continued prayer for God's grace as we work through this together."
Woodc--- said the school was fully cooperating with law enforcement.
"The important thing is that he has been removed so he cannot harm any children," Whitmore said.
Oaks Christian opened in 2000 on a scenic hillside north of the 101 Freeway near the Ventura County line. Enrollment is about 1,000.
Posted by Camdad101 on May 22, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Very sick. I hope they throw the book at him.
Posted by slkrchck on May 22, 2008 at 9:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i wonder how many school locker room cameras
haven't been discovered yet.
Posted by bugmenot on May 22, 2008 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Search his home. Get that warrant asap.
Posted by bugmenot on May 22, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
inappropriate username camdad101, perhaps you should skip commenting on this article. ;-)
Posted by dortega1124 on May 22, 2008 at 11:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
SICK PERVERT!!!!!! This is an adult??? They are supposed to be protecting children from people like this. Not taking part in those sick and disgusting acts. Now they can have acts of sodomy performed on them in the jail. Something that I believe a sicko like this should get.
Posted by missing805 on May 22, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.
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Posted by missing805 on May 22, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.
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Posted by missing805 on May 22, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.
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Posted by missing805 on May 22, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.
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Posted by BeaHappi on May 22, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Three words...scum sucking maggot.
Creeps like this roam our streets and innocent little children like Charles Goodrich are tragically taken from their families.
Something is just not right about that.
Posted by rcamacho on May 22, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My friends teeneage daughter goes to that school. I hope they toast that guys cajones!
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on May 22, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If I had a dollar.....most all men I know (at least the ones that admit it), enjoy watching innocent people or being watched.
What is up with that? Too bad it is only illegal, if it involves minors.
Peeping toms & stalkers make me ILL!
You know who you are...FREAKS!
Posted by SHEILA on May 22, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
THERE ARE SO MANY DIRT BAGS OUT THERE!
LET'S TRY TO SIFT THESE PERVERTS OUT OF OUR COMMUNITY. EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS.
1. WE CAN SIMPLY STAND OUTSIDE OF OUR HOMES FOR A FEW MINUTES AS THE KIDS WALK HOME FROM SCHOOL AND LOOK OUT FOR ANYONE SUSPICIOUS. ANYONE WHO MAY BE WATCHING THE KIDS FROM THEIR CAR. WALKING AROUND THE SCHOOLS DAILY AND CLEARLY LEAVING WITHOUT A CHILD OF THEIR OWN. REPORT THESE SICKOS!
2. GO ON WATCHDOG.COM AND FAMILIARIZE YOURSELVES OF THE PERVERTS THAT SURROUND YOU!
Posted by sparks240 on May 22, 2008 at 4:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LivinInPoorMansPV: You need new friends.
Posted by Poppa on May 22, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Kind of sounds like the school was trying to save money by contracting out their cleaning services. Maybe they should hire their own employees and quit out-sourcing to firms that may not be doing good background screening.
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on May 23, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Sparks, these are not my friends, these are men that walk among us in our everyday lives. Remember men also like to talk, especially if you will listen "act like you care" kind of like the jerk that acts like he cares about what your saying, but deep down, just wants to get some...Leykis 101 Player radio for men who want to get as much as they can for the least amount of money or effort.
Posted by mandynathan on May 24, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JohnGC - Why don't you spell out the headmaster's name? How do you say it? Are you seriously that uptight? His last name is Woodc---. It's funny to me that you can't spell it out.
As for Mr. Medina - ew! What a creep! I'm glad they caught him.
Posted by mandynathan on May 24, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Okay, I guess it is the Star that is censoring the teacher's name!! They are the ones who printed it in the first place! You have to admit, it's kind of funny considering the context... I hope they don't censor out the word "context"
Posted by wolf9walker on May 24, 2008 at 9:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Easy sheila, that’s how Salem witch trials started.
Posted by etpilot57 on May 26, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmmmm; I seem to remember that in the US, a person is "presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law".
I agree that someone who is convicted of such a crime truly is a scumbag and should rot in jail, but all of you other posters are kind of jumping the gun, aren't you?
Posted by nannyfo1 on May 27, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually, only the jury has to presume innocence. The rest of us are free to throw stones.
Posted by finnmcgowan on May 27, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
> The rest of us are free to throw
> stones.
A very ironic choice of allusions, nanny.
Posted by finnmcgowan on May 27, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
SHEILA, what if every school day some guy stood on his porch and watched as the children walked by? Would that seem suspicious to you?
Posted by SHEILA on May 27, 2008 at 3:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Clearly THAT would seem suspicious, finnmcgowan, but if a neighborhood worked together and were aware of their surroundings, then it wouldn't be an issue. Sure you can say "some guy", but it can also be a parent who has picked up their child and look over a few kids (whom parents know) who hasn't been picked up yet. Better have made an effort than to have another child abducted. If you,finnmcgowan, enjoy joining forums to simply downplay another person's good intentions then I'm sure you feel like you've accomplished a lot. Good for you.
Posted by finnmcgowan on May 27, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sheila, Good intentions don't always produce good results.
Believing you are "surrounded by perverts" and suspecting regular school visitors of being pedophiles is paranoid and unwarranted.
The way to catch criminals is to discover crimes and figure out who instigated them. Like what happened here.
Enlisting untrained laypeople as observers in some sort of War on the Unexpected will inundate your local law enforcement with false alarms that will distract them from investigating real crimes.
And it'll add busybody neighbors to an ever-growing list of things we fear.
Posted by SHEILA on May 27, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Your use of words such as enlisted,unwarranted, and inundate sure makes your point crystal clear! Again, two thumbs up to you! I'm sure it completes your day to put me in my place and showcase your large vocabulary! I never said for people to devote themselves to such actions. But little things such as AWARENESS goes really far. Stop humiliating yourself by trying to attack me and my hopes of preventing atleast 1 abduction. My nephew was saved by his classmate's father because he looked out for the "little things". You can fight your battles the way you want, and no one's bothering you so don't interrupt me. You shouldn't waste your precious time by using it on a simpleton like me, you clearly have all the answers! get off your computer and put your "side-busting" to use. Hooray for you!!!
Posted by PatrickHenry on May 28, 2008 at 12:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, Finn, stop using big words.
Posted by Pogmothoin on May 28, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Big words are bad, mmmkay.
Posted by finnmcgowan on May 28, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sheila, I'm sure you are a perfectly nice and intelligent person, and I apologize that I've offended you. I did not mean to attack you personally, and what I say is to everybody here.
> hopes of preventing atleast 1 abduction.
A noble goal. Fortunately, kidnappings by strangers are very rare. Probably no child going to/from YOUR neighborhood school has ever been kidnapped by a stranger, probably none will ever be. We imagine incidents are more common than they actually are because the news media report all the sensational and scary events they can find.
The greatest dangers to our children are actually traffic accidents and obesity.
Still, I applaud your intentions to keep kids safe from sexual predators. This is how you can prevent incidents:
1) Hire trained professionals (the expensive kind) to monitor the school;
2) Give quality training (the kind bureaucracies don't give) to key staff members;
3) Improve/increase mental health services for perverts;
4) Provide spiritual guidance to perverts
Trying to replace a trained security professional with 100 hockey dads or soccer moms won't work. Any real warning signs, if they aren't missed completely, will be buried in a haystack of false alarms. It'll misdirect police resources, and it'll contribute to an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the community.
The most effective thing you could do to increase child safety is to install traffic lights, hire more crossing guards and cops, and train (not just tell) kids how to avoid accidents, and how to recognize perverts.
But please don't confine them indoors - that'll kill them of heart disease, diabetes, and boredom.
Posted by SHEILA on May 28, 2008 at 4:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
GOOD FOR YOU!! You have all the answers Finn. My simple suggestions of simply being aware of what's going on with our kids surroundings have been warped to some other creature. Thanks for showing me my true feelings on the situation. I didn't know I was going to replace trained security professionals with moms and dads. But as a parent, no true "professional" can replace a mother's instinct when it comes to the safety of their child.
My co worker watched his 13 yr old son from a bench at the Thousand Oaks mall while a man in his 50s followed his child from store to store. My co worker simply walked up to his son at the game store and didn't leave his side the during the rest of their day at the mall.
I'm not directing people to hunt for perverts, but to be aware of them. You make it seem as if people in our community do not possess common sense. Please stop putting words in my mouth. This is getting tiresome.
Posted by SHEILA on May 28, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
- To honestly compliment you, those are good ideas. They also have their downfalls- but I'm not going to take it there with you. It's not my style. There are many ways to reduce this crime towards our children, there's more than one way to skin a cat. We shouldn't fight with one another on what's wrong and right, the fight is with those trying to take the innocense of our kids. - and seriously, that's it for me. It's been grand.
Posted by LivinInPoorMansPV on May 29, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What about good ol castration? If you dont pass a psych eval, cut em off!
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