KVTA Friday Morning News Rundown

Friday September 15, 2023

CATHOLIC PRIEST FACING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

(Photo courtesy VCSO)

     A Catholic Priest is due in a Ventura courtroom Friday morning to face charges that he was allegedly involved in possession of a large amount of child pornography.

     The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office filed those charges against 38-year-old Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara who is a member of the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and who is associated with several churches including Our Lady of Guadalupe in Oxnard.

     Prosecutors allege that he possessed over 600 images of child sexual abuse material including images and videos of prepubescent minors under the age of 12, mostly young boys.

     Martinez-Guevara became the focus of an investigation earlier this year after several reports were made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

     He was arrested in Long Beach this week and booked into the Ventura County Jail with bail set a $750,000.

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THOUSAND OAKS MAN DIES IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH

     A Thousand Oaks man is dead after crashing his motorcycle Thursday night.

     It was reported shortly after 7 PM on North Lynn Road and Camino Manzanas in Thousand Oaks.

     Initial reports are that it was a solo vehicle motorcycle crash involving a 56-year-old Thousand Oaks man.

     When first responders arrived at the scene, they found the motorcyclist down in the street and began life-saving efforts.

     He was rushed to the trauma center at Los Robles Medical Center in Thousand Oaks where he was pronounced dead.

      Lynn Road was shut down in that area until about 10:40 PM for accident investigation.

     It has since been reopened.

     The name of the victim has not been released yet and more details are expected later Friday.

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VANDENBERG SFB LAUNCH

     There was a rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in northwestern Santa Barbara County Thursday evening.

     Firefly Alpha lifted off at 7:27 PM and its contrail could be seen over a wide area of Southern California.

     Firefly Aerospace is a small Texas-based company that has been given the task by the United States Space Force to launch payloads important to the national defense within 24-hours.

     The idea is that if there is a national security threat, they can get a satellite into space in response to that threat at a moment’s notice.

     They say that Thursday evening’s mission was a success.

     The mission was dubbed "VICTUS NOX", Latin for “conquer the night.”

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