Kettrell Berry Arrest Alarms Parents and San Diego Community
SAN DIEGO - Kettrell Berry, 49, a recently-fired supervisor at the San Diego Center for Children was arrested Friday on 25 counts of child molestation, NBC San Diego and Fox 5 San Diego reported. Berry was booked into San Diego Central Jail, where he was held in lieu of more than $1.12 million in bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
According to the news report, before being fired on April 19th, Berry worked for 9 years at the San Diego Center for Children, a non-profit organization that provides mental health, social and educational services to children and families. Many of the children and teens at the center face social, emotional, behavioral and educational challenges.
Dave McCaslin, the CEO of the Center confirmed the arrest to NBC San Diego. He said in a statement regarding Berry's arrest, "We are saddened by the breach of trust that has occurred. In the Center's 125 years of service in San Diego we have been a lifeline for over 10,000 children. We took immediate action by contacting the San Diego Police Department and Child Protective Services and have been partnering with them throughout the investigation."
McCaslin continued, "The safety of our children is always our first priority and we are taking action to ensure their continued safety. We are committed to helping and protecting children and the action of one person will not deter us from providing the best possible care and hope for these children."
According to jail records, Berry's charges include: Oral copulation with a person under 16; unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at least three years younger; penetration by foreign object on a person under 16; and lewd and lascivious acts involving a victim 14 or 15 years of age.
Fostering Accountability and Holding Negligent Parties Accountable
Mentally and behaviorally challenged children and teenagers are especially vulnerable to harm by the adults they place their trust in. When shocking events like this one occur, the question "what could have been done to prevent this?" is always raised. In California, supervising entities, such as the alleged perpetrator's employer, may be liable if they knew or should have known about the events that occurred.
Parents have a limited amount of time to take civil action against child molesters and sexual abusers. If you would like to know your legal rights following this incident or any other, contact Estey Bomberger for a free and confidential review of your legal rights. The San Diego sexual abuse attorneys at Estey Bomberger have more than 70 years of experience representing molestation victims. In 2010, our attorneys obtained a $30 million verdict for a sexual abuse victim, the largest-ever single plaintiff sexual abuse verdict in California history.
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SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Union Tribune reported today that a former coach at La Jolla Country Day School has been charged with 13 felony counts of sexual abuse, including a lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 years of age, and sodomy of a person under 16 by a person over 21. Vijay Prasad, a fencing coach at UC San Diego, will be arraigned Thursday. Judge David Szumowski set Prasad's bail at $200,000. If convicted, Prasad faces 11 years in state prison, according to a 10 News report. Further details about the allegations were not immediately available. 
SAN DIEGO - A 41-year-old Hemet man who is a lead pastor at New Wine Ministries in Oceanside was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child molestation, the North County Times reported. The suspected, Matthias Anderson, was arrested at about 7:45 a.m. near the juvenile victim's Murrieta home. According to police, the girl and her mother have been attending the suspect's church for two years. 
