Camarillo youth minister arrested for alleged molestation

Mark McDowell

Camarillo resident Mark McDowell, 46, will be arraigned in Ventura County Superior Court July 7 on charges of sexual assault and child molestation of three girls, ages 13 and 14. The alleged incidents took place between the years of 1991 and 1999.

Police would not comment as to why McDowell's arrest came nearly 15 years after the first incident.

McDowell, a youth minister at the Camarillo Church of Christ, was arrested at his home on June 28 by sheriff's detectives after they learned of the alleged crime in July 2006 and were able to gather sufficient evidence to arrest him. Detectives also arrested him for alleged possession of child pornography on his home computer.

The former youth minister, now out on $50,000 bail, allegedly befriended the girls through the youth ministry program at the Camarillo Church of Christ during the 1990s, then sexually assaulted them over a period of time.

The attorney of the Camarillo Church of Christ, Philip R. Dunn of Dunn and Sanderson in Westlake, said that the church gives its full support and cooperation to the authorities and extends its full support, thoughts and prayers to the victims.

Detectives, concerned for other possible victims, ask anyone who was victimized or has knowledge of this crime to call the Ventura County Sheriff's Department at (805) 654-9511 or Detective Lori Erickson at (805) 477-7000.