Ventura County – Multiple communities within Ventura County seem to be suffering a recent plague of child molestations as shown in the arrests of two men alleged to have victimized juvenile females in unrelated incidents in neighboring communities.
In the city of Oak View, located in the Ojai Valley just east of the City of Ventura, Steven Wayne Bower was the object of an investigation conducted by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau pursuant to reports, according to VCSD spokesman Detective Randy Skaggs, that he had been engaging in illicit sexual contact with three unrelated female victims, “ages 6, 8, and 9.”
Once Bower, a resident of Oak View himself, was identified, he was contacted by deputies assigned to the Ojai Police Department Investigations Unit in the pre-dawn hours of June 23rd and taken into custody without incident, whereupon he was transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on multiple charges of child molestation, with his bail set at $500,000.
Brandon Russell Seward
Just four days later, in the city of Fillmore, Brandon Russell Seward was contacted by Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau detectives and taken into custody on charges of child molestation. According to Det. Skaggs’ report, Seward is alleged to have “befriended a 15-year-old female” in December of 2014 and had “engaged in sexual acts” with her for a three month period ending in May of 2015.
Seward was transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on various charges involving child molestation and sex with a minor, with his bail set at $300,000.
Both cases remain the subject of ongoing investigation, and anyone with knowledge of the activities of either Bower or Seward in this regard is urged to contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau at 805-384-4725.
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
