Former Ventura County teacher sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for sexually abusing a student

A 66-year-old man was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for sexually abusing an underage student while working as a teacher at a school in Ojai, according to prosecutors.

Paul Herder of Pahoa, Hawaii, was arrested last June in connection with numerous sexual assaults on a student between 2013 and 2017. At the time, Herder was a teacher at Oak Grove School, a private preschool and high school.

The student, who was a minor at the time, reported the crimes to police as an adult in February 2023. Herder admitted to the sexual assaults in March when he pleaded guilty to six counts.

“The defendant’s actions constitute a serious breach of trust as he exploited his position of power to manipulate and bully a student,” said Senior Assistant District Attorney Melissa
Suttner of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Sex Crimes Unit. “This verdict sends a clear message that such egregious violations will be punished to the full extent of the law.”

Herder was convicted of two counts of luring and one count each of anal and genital penetration with a foreign object, oral sexual intercourse with a person under 18, unlawful sexual intercourse and using a minor for sexual conduct. He also pleaded guilty to taking advantage of a position of trust or taking advantage of a confidence to commit the offence.

Herder, who was sentenced in Ventura County court on Friday, must serve six years and eight months in prison.