Ventura County – In what has to be the working definition of the notion of “irony”, Ventura County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau and its Sexual Assault Unit have arrested Luis Manuel Gonzalez, 62, a Los Angeles resident of the community of Atwater on charges of child molestation.
According to Ventura County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Eric Buschow, Gonzalez was under investigation pursuant to allegations that he sexually assaulted a seven-year-old resident of Camarillo in November of last year.
Most disturbing in this case is the fact that Gonzalez has, for nearly a decade, been employed as a Los Angeles County social caseworker, with the specific responsibility of determining claimant eligibility for welfare benefits. As Buschow describes Gonzalez’s long-standing position of trust, it “involves dealing with families in difficult circumstances and gives him access to children.”
Detectives of the Ventura Major Crimes Bureau suspect that Gonzales—who was arrested at his home on March 20th and has been identified by two more Los Angeles area victims—may be guilty of similar crimes of record as early as 1998. The investigation into Gonzalez’s professional and personal history remains open because, as Buschow noted in his report to the media, “investigators are concerned there may be other victims in Los Angeles County.”
Gonzalez was taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail where he remains on $1,100,000 bail.
Pursuant to those concerns, anyone with any knowledge of the activities of Gonzales are encouraged to contact Ventura County Sheriffs at (805) 383-8791.
Read more:
VCSTAR: L.A. County welfare worker accused of molesting child in Camarillo
Sespe Sun: Child molestation Arrest
