Goleta coach arrested for child sex crimes, deputies seeking witnesses

May 13, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Deputies recently arrested a Goleta man for child sex crimes and are asking the public to help them identify additional survivors.

Last month, detectives launched an investigation into lewd images of children and identified the suspect as 42-year-old Shaun Donald Hertlein of Goleta. Detectives also learned that Hertlein worked with children through his affiliation with a church on Cathedral Oaks Road as well as assistant coaching for freshman boys football.

Detectives arrested Hertlein on May 9 and booked him in the Main Jail for charges of sending sexual images to a minor, electronic communication with a minor with intent to commit specific crimes, and possession of obscene images of a child. He remains in custody with his bail set at $500,000.

To help keep children safe online, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office offer the following online safety tips:

• Stay involved and informed: Know what platforms, apps, and websites your child uses. Create your own accounts on these platforms and connect with your child when possible.
• Set clear rules and expectations: Establish household rules for screen time and acceptable online behavior. Make sure children understand that they should never share personal information or photos with people they don’t know. Children should never share intimate photos online with anyone.
• Use parental controls and privacy settings: Activate parental controls on devices and apps. Adjust privacy settings to restrict who can contact your child, view their content, or follow them.
• Have ongoing, open conversations: Talk regularly with your child about their online experiences. Encourage them to come to you if someone makes them feel uncomfortable or asks them to keep a secret.
• Watch for red flags: Be alert for warning signs, such as sudden secrecy, changes in mood, or use of new apps you didn’t authorize. Be especially cautious if your child is chatting with someone who encourages them to move to another app or private messaging platform.
• Guard against platform hopping: Predators often build trust on mainstream platforms and then push children to riskier apps with less oversight—such as encrypted chat services, anonymous forums, or video chat rooms. Know the signs and discourage use of unfamiliar or unsupervised apps.
• Report suspicious activity: If you believe your child is being targeted or exploited online, report it to your local law enforcement agency immediately.

Sheriff’s detectives believe there could be additional survivors who may have had contact with Hertlein and they would like to encourage them to seek justice. Detectives encourage anyone with knowledge of additional crimes associated with Hertlein to contact Detective Arnoldi at (805) 681-4150. If you would like to be anonymous, you can submit information online at: sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip or by calling (805) 681-4171.