Not Guilty Pleas From Former Santa Paula School Counselor Accused Of Molesting Multiple Children

Sunday January 26, 2025

(Photo courtesy VCDA)

     Update--A former counselor at a Santa Paula elementary school who is accused of molesting several children when he worked there several years ago has pleaded not guilty to 17 charges of lewd acts upon a child and has denied dozens of special allegations regarding multiple alleged victims.

     The Ventura County District Attorney's Office says that 42-year-old David Lane Braff Jr. of Thousand Oaks was in court Friday to face arraignment in connection with the case.

      Braff was arrested last November on charges that he allegedly molested the children, ages 6-10 years, in an office at McKevett Elementary School in Santa Paula between 2015 and 2019.

     He remains in the Ventura County Jail with no chance of release and is due back in court in late March.

     The DA's office says Braff is charged with 17 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14-years-old.

     He is also accused with almost 70 special allegations and aggravating factors.

     The Ventura County District Attorney's Office said at the time of his arrest that Braff is alleged to have victimized at least eight children.

     The charges and special allegations against Braff go on for eight pages.

     At the time of his arrest, Braff was employed as an assistant principal and school counselor at Ingenium Charter Middle School in Los Angeles.

     The DA's Office is asking anyone who may have been victimized by Braff or has information about suspicious activity on his part to contact Ventura County DA Investigator Greg Webb at (805) 477-1627.