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Santa Barbara youth program staffer accused of raping teen

November 1, 2019

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A former staff member for a Santa Barbara youth entrepreneurship program allegedly raped a female mentee of his, who was 14 years old at the time, according to a lawsuit filed last month in Santa Barbara County Superior Court. [KSBY]

Then Youth Interactive staffer Jonathan Hernandez allegedly sexually abused the girl twice in 2014. During one of the incidents, Hernandez is accused of offering marijuana prior to sexually assaulting the teen, the lawsuit alleges.

Youth Interactive is a nonprofit described as an after-school entrepreneurial arts academy. The alleged victim became involved with the organization as an “at-risk” 14-year-old in 2014.

The teen was being mentored by 25-year-old Jonathan Hernandez, an artist and Youth Interactive mentor.

In the spring of 2014, Youth Interactive CEO Nathalie Gensac brought the girl over to her Montecito home. Hernandez, who would sometimes spend the night at Gensac’s home, was also there.

Gensac and Hernandez were drinking red wine and smoking marijuana, the latter of which they offered to the teen. The group was also watching the film Pulp Fiction at the time.

After Gensac went to bed, Hernandez raped the 14-year-old girl on the sofa, according to the lawsuit.

Following the incident, the teen was transferred to the home of Emily Griffith, a coordinator who oversaw all program participants and mentors. Griffith told the alleged victim she knew she had sex with Hernandez and it went unreported to police, even though Youth Interactive is a mandatory reporter of child abuse, according to the suit.

Several months later, the alleged victim was sexually assaulted a second time by Hernandez, this time at the Youth Interactive office.

In Jan. 2017, the alleged victim told Gensac she was raped by Hernandez inside Gensac’s home in 2014. Gensac did not report the allegation to police, according to the suit.

When contacted by KSBY, Gensac said she had yet to be served with the suit and that she cannot comment on the allegations. Gensac also said Hernandez and Griffith are no longer part of Youth Interactive.


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I went to Youth Interactive’s Facebook page and sent them a copy of the article and asked what they had to say about it… Nothing yet, but you never know!


0

What is the basis of this lawsuit? Civil or Criminal? I’m guessing Civil because she never reported it to the police. Who is being sued? Hernandez the alleged rapist? Gensac who allegedly “allowed” it to happen? Both? I don’t doubt that the girl had sexual contact with Hernandez, but it looks suspicious. Is she just trying to get money from Gensac?


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Dude, does it matter? She was 14, that means child molestation! That means she was far under the age of consent. Do you get that? She’s considered by law, and by those with any sense of decency, a frickin’ kid!

God damn, Snart! You ain’t got tp be so repugnant to set yourself apart, you really don’t! This kid was probably dealin’ with this shit for quite some time, probably in denial mixed with misplaced guilt and it took a few years of maturing to realize she needed to step up, that it wasn’t her fault, and others might benefit from her coming forward.

Maybe, just maybe, she feels the need to possibly protect others or feels she’ll empower others to come forward, ’cause where this type of smoke lingers there’s almost no doubt of a continuing fire, know what I mean?


2

I guess it would be statutory rape or molestation of a child by a person of trust or supervisory power, not good:(

It does make me go back to the Oscar Higueros case from this County, who was having sex with a 17 year old girl. He was sentenced to something like 167 years in prison, i thought that was a little over the top! Wonder what amount time this miscreant will get, if any, in Santa Barbara County!!!


0

This is beyond belief! The first thing that strikes me as this being something much deeper than Mr. Hernandez’s actions is why would any organization of this nature take a “at-risk” 14 year old girl and partner her up with a 25 year old man? WTF?!!! If for no other reason then for appearance sake! It just ain’t frickin’ copasetic!

Then, THEN! Taking a 14 year old girl home with you along with her “mentor” where you put her “at-risk” by smoking pot and drinking in front of her? Really? WTF?!!!!!!

There is something very, very, very wrong with this whole picture and I would hope, and if a resident of SB demand, they shutter the doors of this “non-profit” until this shit gets straitened out!

God damn! Can’t trust the cops, can’t trust the schools, can’t trust the teachers, can’t even trust a place meant to mentor them, so who the hell can they trust?!!!! No wonder we got so many fucked up kids out there.


18

And here is a photo of Jonathan Hernandez–the creepy looking guy with his arm around the woman on the left. https://www.independent.com/2013/08/21/youth-interactive-debut-mural/


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