Suspected Rialto lunch money embezzler, Judith Oakes, allegedly writes confession
Rialto >> Rialto police handed their case against a former Rialto Unified accountant accused of embezzling up to $3.1 million in lunch money to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office Monday. Among the evidence: a letter, purportedly written by Judith Oakes herself, confessing to the crime.
A copy of the letter, dated Aug. 14, was obtained by this newspaper.
“Last week, as you know by now, I committed a crime and was arrested,” the letter reads in part. “I not only hurt myself, but my family, the district, my friends and the school district employees who know me. There were no other school district employees involved in this crime and my confession to the police was honest and heartfelt.”
Oakes could not be reached for comment for this story. Rialto police said they are investigating the letter and its origins and are also attempting to confirm it was authored by Oakes.
Oakes, 49, was an accountant for the district’s Nutritional Services Department. She was arrested Aug. 7 after twice being caught on camera putting money into her bra, according to a Rialto Police Department search warrant. At the time of her arrest, she had a large quantity of cash on her person and more was found at her San Bernardino home later. She resigned from the district the next day.
The letter-writer claims that Superintendent Harold Cebrun was unconnected to the crime:
“I feel so bad knowing that the papers are using the crime that I committed to damage his reputation. But all of you must stop blaming Dr. Cebrun, let him continue to do his job, work with him, and I will have to face the consequences of my own actions.”
The envelope the letter was sent in reads “to the Board of Education to be read in closed session on 8/14/13,” but the letter did not surface until after Rialto Unified board President Joe Ayala offered a public defense of Cebrun after a closed-session meeting last week:
Cebrun is “an honorable man who has not been convicted of any crime,” Ayala said, reading from a prepared statement on Wednesday. If Cebrun has done anything wrong, “it’s because he fell into a web, (one) that many of us men fall into.”
Cebrun, through his lawyer, strongly denied any romantic relationship between himself and Oakes on Friday:
“Dr. Cebrun was friends with Ms. Oakes, but the friendship is being exaggerated by the RUSD board of education and the press. Dr. Cebrun was not involved in an intimate, romantic relationship with Ms. Oakes,” Rancho Cucamonga-based attorney Willie W. Williams wrote in a letter on behalf of Cebrun.
Oakes allegedly gave the letter to neighbor Mike Ricker, who works as the warehouse supervisor for Rialto Unified.
“Judy did give me a letter in an envelope, a sealed envelope to give to (Deputy Superintendent) Wallace on the 14th,” Ricker said Friday. “I don’t know what the letter said. She just asked me to deliver it to him.”
And that’s just what happened, according to Wallace.
“I never opened it up. It was a sealed envelope,” Wallace said Friday.
Wallace, who along with Cebrun was placed on administrative leave in September, put the letter in an in-box in the superintendent’s office “back in August,” he said.
He and the superintendent weren’t present in the Aug. 14 closed session meeting, Wallace said.
“That was the board meeting that became a big mess,” Wallace said. “I never knew if that letter was utilized or not utilized. We were not there.”
According to Ayala, it wasn’t: “No, no,” he said Friday, saying he hadn’t heard of the letter before then. “I’m definitely not aware of that.”
Rialto police Capt. Randy DeAnda declined to say whether Oakes had confessed to police when she was arrested in August.
“Obviously, I can’t comment on anything involving whether Judith Oakes confessed or cooperated with the investigation,” he said.
Williams said Monday that he and Cebrun had seen the so-called Oakes confession letter and that the handwriting appeared to be Oakes’.
“(Cebrun) firmly believes it is her handwriting,” Williams said.
Williams denied his client had anything to do with the letter.
“He had nothing to do with Ms. Oakes writing the letter, directly or indirectly, and just recently became aware of it,” Williams said.
The timing has, however, raised eyebrows with Rialto police.
“It was kind of coincidental that letter came in when other people were getting that letter from Cebrun,” DeAnda said. “If it was a letter authored by her, we want to make sure it’s authentic and not something that’s been contrived.”
The letter is something the District Attorney’s Office may want to take a look at, he said.
The letter’s author expresses contrition on behalf of Oakes:
“Don’t blame others for what I have done as I am extremely sorry for my actions against the district,” the letter allegedly written by Oakes concludes. “I hope that this letter will help you and Dr. Cebrun to come together and give this district and community the leadership it deserves.
“Please forgive me and pray for me as I too will be praying for you.”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Beau Yarbrough covers education for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Reach the author atBeau.Yarbrough@inlandnewspapers.com or follow Beau on Twitter: @inlandEd.
Joe Nelson covers San Bernardino County for The Sun, Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts. Reach the author at Joe.Nelson@inlandnewspapers.com or follow Joe on Twitter: @sbcountynow.
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