Ventura County Crimes And Courts
Wednesday April 02, 2025
It was a Ventura County story that made national headlines almost a year ago.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s communications center had received a plea for help from a teenage girl who could only communicate in Spanish.
It was received on what was at that time a new 9-1-1 text message system that could translate from Spanish to English.
The girl said that she had been the victim of human trafficking, taken from Mexico to the United States where she had been held against her will and repeatedly sexually abused.
The 17-year-old wasn’t sure exactly where she was, but by giving the call-taker a description of her surroundings, deputies were able to find her in the Casitas Springs area near the Ojai Valley and she was rescued.
An investigation led to the arrest of then 31-year-old Gerardo Hernandez Cruz of Ventura who was charged with human trafficking of a minor, forcible rape, and several other charges relating to sexual abuse.
This week, after serving less than a year in the Ventura County Jail, Cruz walked out a free man.
A plea deal had resulted in Cruz pleading guilty to one count of Unlawful Intercourse and admitting a special allegation that the victim was vulnerable.
He was given a suspended sentence, three years of formal probation with a long list off terms and conditions, and time already served in jail.
Cruz must also register as a sex offender.
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The man accused of spray painting swastikas on almost a half dozen public and private properties in downtown and west Ventura over the weekend was in court Wednesday to face charges.
30-year-old John Thomas Williams of Ventura pleaded not guilty to eight felony vandalism and terrorism charges.
Williams also denied two dozen special allegations including prior convictions for violent crimes and committing a new crime while on probation or parole.
Ventura police say Williams is accused of doing what he did and then posting photos of the vandalism on his social media page saying other people had done it in order to spread fear in the community.
He remains in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $250,000 but he cannot be released even if he makes bail because of a parole hold.
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Simi Valley police say they’ve made what they term a key arrest in connection with an elaborate scam aimed at stealing money from senior citizens.
The authorities had learned of a scam that’s been making the rounds lately where someone posing as a representative of a bank says that your bank account may not be secure and you need to withdraw the funds and send them to an account the bogus security representative from the bank.
In the Simi Valley case, they discovered that an elderly resident was going to turn over as much as $200,000 to the bogus bank representative.
Simi police and the Ventura County Organized Retail Theft Task Force were able to conduct a sting operation that caught the suspect as he was attempting to pick up what was a decoy package of money from the victim.
21-year-old Ruishan Liu of West Covina was arrested and charged with conspiracy, trying to obtain money by false pretenses, attempted theft from an elder, and attempted theft.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied eight special allegations.
He remains in jail with bail set at $150,000.
