Rialto, California Unified accountant arrested for suspected embezzlement

Police arrested a Rialto Unified School District accountant on suspicion of embezzling thousands of dollars in cash over the last two months.

Judy Oakes, 48, of San Bernardino, was arrested at the district's nutrition services offices at 151 S. Cactus Ave. Wednesday afternoon and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of burglary, embezzlement and grand theft. She was held in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to Rialto police Capt. Randy DeAnda.

Oakes was in the process of bailing out this afternoon, said sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.

At the time of Oakes' arrest, police found a large amount of cash on her person. During a search of her home, more cash and evidence was found, DeAnda said, declining to elaborate further.

"We suspect this has been occurring since June" 2013, DeAnda said. He said school district staff notified police of Oakes after a banking discrepancy was discovered. He said a forensic audit will be conducted to determine if the suspected embezzlement has been occurring longer.

Oakes, an accountant for the district's nutrition services department, has worked for the Rialto Unified School District since 1993, according to a seniority list of non-teaching employees posted on the district's website.

She is the widow of Jack Oakes, the late principal of Ramona-Allesandro Elementary School in San Bernardino.
Oakes "was immediately put on administrative leave," district spokeswoman Syeda Jafri said Thursday morning. "The district will work with the Rialto Police Department as they continue with this pending investigation. At this point, to make any further comment would be premature."

Police will submit their case to the District Attorney's Office Friday morning for consideration of the filing of criminal charges, DeAnda said.

"The district will not sit idly by," said school board vice-president Edgar Montes, "We will be sharing information with law enforcement officials, including the allegations that have been circulating that an alleged illicit relationship between high ranking employees enabled the alleged misconduct to occur. Furthermore, because the law enforcement investigation and allegations involve high ranking employees, we will be cooperating with and assisting law enforcement in any way we can. I have already requested the district take immediate action and also conduct its own internal review. If either the law enforcement investigation or the district's review reveals that any other district employee or administrator engaged in or facilitated any wrongdoing or illegal activity, we will support and pursue their prosecution to the fullest extent of the law and seek restitution where allowable."

Board president Joseph Ayala would not comment on Oakes' alleged romantic relationship with a senior staff member.

"Any time we have a pending investigation, the less said the better at the beginning," he said Thursday afternoon. "I am confident that the public agencies and the district will do the right thing."

Rialto Unified teaches approximately 26,408 students. The district has been strapped for cash in recent years, and gave pink slips to 124 non-teaching employees "" like Oakes "" in March of this year, and had previously notified 100 teachers their jobs might not be available in the 2013-2014 school year.

Oakes' arrest caps off a tough year for the district. In January, Henry Elementary School teacher Tim Braby made national news after the Sun published an audio recording of the third-grade teacher berating and insulting his students. Later that month, Eisenhower High coach Steve Johnson was shot at an inner-city park, and gave conflicting reports of what happened that night, according to Rialto Police. And in March, former Eisenhower High girls basketball coach Floyd Eddings, who hasn't worked for the district since 2004, was arrested on charges that he had sex with two underage team members.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact Detectives Mike Morales and Greg Marquez at 909-820-2550.