MOLESTATION CHARGES REVIVED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ROSEN, 74, ARRESTED.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - Police arrested a Ventura County school board member this week on suspicion of molesting his son and daughter more than 30 years ago, officials said Friday. Three-term board member Albert Rosen, 74, was arrested by police at his home in Simi Valley on Tuesday evening on two counts of lewd acts with a child under 14. Rosen, a one-time Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. substitute teacher and a former Ventura County public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. employee, was released from Ventura County Jail on Thursday after posting $50,000 bail. An arraignment A criminal proceeding at which the defendant is officially called before a court of competent jurisdiction, informed of the offense charged in the complaint, information, indictment, or other charging document, and asked to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or as otherwise permitted Wednesday was continued until May 30. ``Because we have not been officially informed of the charges, we do not believe they have anything to do with his capacity as a board member, nor are they connected to any of the programs operated by this office,'' Ventura County school Superintendent Noun 1. school superintendent - the superintendent of a school system overseer, superintendent - a person who directs and manages an organization Charles Weis said. Allegations of Rosen's suspected child molestations first surfaced in divorce papers filed in 1982. But it wasn't until Rosen's son filed a police report last year that the Ventura County District Attorney's Office filed a warrant for his arrest. A district attorney's investigation resulted in Rosen's daughter also complaining of being molested mo·lest tr.v. mo·lest·ed, mo·lest·ing, mo·lests 1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy. 2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity. , officials said. A 1994 law allows prosecution of old molestation molestation n. the crime of sexual acts with children up to the age of 18, including touching of private parts, exposure of genitalia, taking of pornographic pictures, rape, inducement of sexual acts with the molester or with other children, and variations of these cases under certain circumstances. ``We have filed a complaint alleging two counts of child molestation between 1966 and 1970 in Simi Valley,'' said Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Tony Wold of the sexual assault family protection unit. ``The only thing that makes this case unique is the length of time that has passed since the crime and that Mr. Rosen is involved in education ... but justice delayed doesn't have to be justice denied.'' Rosen, who has requested a public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was , did not state a plea during a court hearing Wednesday. Todd Howeth, Rosen's court-appointed attorney, said he just received the case and was unprepared to comment. Simi Valley Police Chief Randy Adams said the city takes sexual abuse seriously. ``Certainly, we don't tolerate any form of child molestation in our city,'' Adams said. ``We have a zero-tolerance policy against crime here: That's why we are America's No. 1 safest large city.'' Divorce papers filed in Ventura County Superior Court against Rosen by his now ex-wife 20 years ago cited sexual abuse against four of his five children and the attempted rape of a Vietnamese immigrant boarder, as well as the molestation of the immigrant's daughter. ``The children have been under great emotional strain,'' Frances Rosen, Rosen's ex-wife, said in her divorce complaint. ``I have been under severe emotional stress due to the discovery that my children had to endure this trauma all these years and were in fear of letting anyone know,'' she added. ``Their father warned them constantly not to tell me or anyone else of what happened. Being young and impressionable, the children had no choice but to obey.'' The divorce papers stated all the children underwent therapy as a result of being molested. ``As a result of their father's destructive and pathological behavior, all four children have suffered serious psychological damage,'' Susan Forward, psychotherapist psy·cho·ther·a·pist n. An individual, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or psychiatric social worker, who practices psychotherapy. for Rosen's son, said in the 1982 divorce complaint. |
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