Braff 42, of Thousand Oaks now faces 31 counts of child molestation involving a total of 13 male and female victims, according to an amended criminal complaint filed Tuesday by prosecutors from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. He is set to be arraigned on the new charges on May 21, prosecutors said.
Braff was initially accused of molesting eight students ages 6 to 10 in a school office at McKevett Elementary School in Santa Paula, where he worked as a counselor from 2015 to 2019. In November he pleaded not guilty to 17 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 years old, according to court documents.
Since his arrest, four additional victims have come forward from McKevett Elementary School. In addition, a fifth new victim has come forward who was allegedly abused between 2004 and 2005, while Braff was employed at the Conejo Recreation and Park District in Thousand Oaks.
“The defendant is now accused of molesting even more young victims across multiple years and locations,” Ventura Dist. Atty. Eric Nasarenko said in a statement. “Our investigators and prosecutors remain committed to uncovering the full extent of this defendant’s crimes, and we urge anyone with information to contact our office.”
Over the last 24 years, Braff has worked at 10 different school districts and youth sports facilities in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, prosecutors said. He has held numerous positions including counselor, sports coach, child-care assistant, substitute teacher and behavioral therapist.
At the time of his arrest, Braff was working as an assistant principal and school counselor at Ingenium Charter Middle School in Winnetka, prosecutors said. Braff’s former places of work include the Conejo Valley Unified School District, Moorpark Unified School District, the ABA Network, Inc., Bright Star Schools, Rio School District, Sports Academy Thousand Oaks and the Ventura Unified School District.
He faces sentencing enhancements alleging that he took advantage of a position of trust, preyed on particularly vulnerable victims and committed the crimes with planning and sophistication.
Prosecutors are continuing to seek additional victims and encourage anyone with information related to Braff’s alleged abuse to contact Investigator Greg Webb at (805) 477-1627
Manly, Stewart & Finaldi has represented hundreds of children who were sexually assaulted by teachers in schools . We secured a settlement of $140 million on behalf of 81 child sexual abuse victims at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. This was the largest child sexual abuse settlement by a public school district in history. We currently represent more than 100 victims of Johnstown pediatrician Johnny Barto . We are also the lead attorneys representing Olympic athletes and victims of former US Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team Doctor Larry Nassar and secured $890 million in settlements for our clients. In each of these cases we have helped victims and families get justice by conducting a thorough investigation of the organization and the school In many cases we have discovered that administrators and executives know that the perpetrator was a danger to children and either did nothing or actively covered up the crimes.
