A California sheriff’s investigator has admitted to raping a 15-year-old girl in 2017, after she reported being sexually assaulted and he was assigned to her case.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced that Neil David Kimball, 46, pleaded guilty last week to a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse. The Los Angeles Times reported that Kimball, who investigated dozens of sex assault cases since 2013, was arrested in November after authorities received a complaint about him that sparked a criminal investigation.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Patrice Koenig said the assault occurred in a mobile home owned by Kimball which was located in the Camarillo area.
“He met her during the course of the investigation. He befriended her and spent time with her outside the scope of the investigation and then the sexual assault occurred,” Koenig said of Kimball, according to The Ventura County Star.
A month before Kimball pleaded guilty, a woman who identified herself in a Medium blog post as Los Angeles-based fashion designer Sara Abusheik detailed her encounter with the ex-detective. In it, she recalled being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance in 2014 and having Kimball assigned to her case. She accused him of not only dismissing her rape claims but quipped that she should go back to her attacker to “let him make love to you gently.”
“Instead of questioning the suspect, however, Kimball called him ‘a nice guy’ and teased me about going back to him. “You should let him make love to you gently,” he sneered. His only interest in the details of my rape came in the form of perverse, sick questions, and he — most tellingly — suggested he come inside to get high,” she wrote.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a few years before joining the sex crimes unit in 2009, Kimball was investigated for sexual battery but never charged. At the time, Kimball was accused of grabbing a woman’s hand and attempting to force her to touch his genitals.
The Ventura County Star reported that Kimball initially pleaded not guilty to forcible rape and dissuading a witness by force or threat. He pleaded guilty last Tuesday after prosecutors filed an amended complaint.
Police officials recently told the Los Angeles Times that they suspended Kimball’s pay in March and are in the process of finalizing his termination.
Kimball is scheduled to be sentenced on August 8.
[Featured image: Neil David Kimball/Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department]
