Photo: Neil Kimball
Ventura County – Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy Neil Kimball, a 45-year-old member of his department’s Special Victims Bureau, was arrested on November 16th and charged with the rape of a minor female resident of Ventura who was involved in a case he was actively investigating.
According to Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Patrice Koenig, she will be the lead prosecutor on the case, as the criminal indictment has been filed in Ventura, the jurisdiction in which the crime is alleged to have occurred.
Koenig reported that the rape “was a one-time event involving a minor” who was 14 or 15 years old at the time of the 2016 incident. She also indicated that the precise location where the crime occurred is still under active investigation, but that the crime is alleged to have taken place “during the scope of Kimball’s assignment” with the Special Victim’s Bureau.
Kimball’s contact with the victim has been the subject of an active Internal Affairs investigation within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since it was initially reported by “a member of the public.”
Kimball is a 20-year veteran of the LASD with a history of investigating numerous cases of child rape and molestation, and has faced prior charges of inappropriate behavior with females, including a 2009 allegation that he forced a female victim to touch his genitals.
According to the November 19, 2018 media statement released by the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, charges were never filed in that case “due to insufficient evidence.”
Kimball was transported to the L.A. County Jail for booking on charges of rape by force and preventing or dissuading a victim from testifying, with his bail set at $2,000,000. He is currently being transported to Ventura County Jail for arraignment on those charges.
