Editor’s note: This post has mentions of sexual harassment. Reader discretion is advised.
A former Cal Poly administrator and former Bike SLO County executive director will face trial for committing a lewd act on his 6-year-old step-granddaughter, a judge ruled Thursday.
Richard Ellison was charged with committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14 by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 27. Ellison was Cal Poly’s Associate Vice President for University Advancement from 2014-2015, according to university spokesperson Keegan Koberl.
READ MORE: Former Cal Poly administrator, current Bike SLO Executive Director charged with lewd act on a child
As reported by the SLO Tribune, testimony by San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office investigator Julie Tatarian and San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy Kara Dickel revealed details about the case.
Tatarian testified that the victim, identified as Jane Doe, and her mother were in San Luis Obispo for her aunt’s baby shower, which was at Jane Doe’s grandparents home, the Tribune reported. Following the baby shower, the family had dinner at the home, when Jane Doe asked to go into the hot tub.
Jane Doe was accompanied by her grandfather because her mother did not have a bathing suit. Prior to going in the tub, Ellison had “a couple glasses of wine” and fell asleep, according to Jane Doe’s mother.
Later that night, Jane Doe told her mother “Grandpa told me that we have a secret,” the Tribune reported. After questioning from her mother, Jane Doe told her mom that Ellison had exposed his penis in the hot tub, but Ellison did not touch her.
The next morning, Jane Doe’s mother confronted Ellison, who said that the victim had been making comments about seeing his underwear on bike rides and that she poked him while in the hot tub and was pulling on his shorts, the Tribune reported. According to the mother, Ellison did not answer directly if he had exposed himself.
Upon returning home, the victim’s father submitted a tip via a law enforcement tipline after discussing the incident with his daughter.
Defense attorney Carrie Winters asked Tatarian if the father’s questioning could have influenced Jane Doe’s recollection of what happened, the Tribune reported. Tatarian explained that Jane Doe’s father asked her if she had touched Ellison’s penis, which she said she had. He then asked what it felt like, to which she said that there was “a hard part and a soft part.”
In response to a question by district attorney Dan Dow, Tatarian explained that Jane Doe told her father that she had poked Ellison around the chest, and asked to see his private parts. Ellison did not try to dissuade Jane Doe.
Ellison also sent a letter to Jane Doe’s mother, apologizing for what happened and taking responsibility, and promising to never drink alcohol around the kids again, without acknowledging the specifics of what happened, the Tribune reported. Dow called the letter, “an admission by the defendant that something wholly inappropriate happened.”
After Tatarian’s testimony, Dickel described what she witnessed in a child forensic interview with Jane Doe.
During the forensic interview, Jane Doe said that she had seen Ellison’s penis prior to the hot tub incident, the Tribune reported. The first time, she was under the bed in Ellison’s bedroom while Ellison was changing, and asked to see his private parts. He responded that he would show her later in the hot tub.
She told the interviewer that she had seen his penis while he was changing and that it was “just hanging there.”
In the hot tub, Jane Doe asked her step-grandfather several questions about his genitals, which she could see because he had turned the tub’s lights on. She told the interviewer that she had touched his penis with two fingers. She described his penis in the hot tub as “sticking up,” the Tribune reported.
Ellison told Jane Doe that she should not touch other people’s privates and to not be as expressive, but did not say anything about his own privates.
Ellison’s next hearing is set for May 12.