City College sued by rape victim
Chris Cadelago
Issue date: 11/30/05 Section: News
The woman raped by an on-duty security officer in a college security truck is suing City College, claiming the college's failure to investigate a prior assault on campus put her in harm's way.
On Nov. 14, 2004, Kent Kafatia was working the graveyard shift when he offered Natasha Deacon a ride home in a campus security truck. Instead of dropping her off at her home, he drove to 303 La Marina Drive where he held her captive and forcibly raped her. On July 5, 2005, Kafatia was convicted of rape and false imprisonment and is now serving an eight-year sentence in prison.
Deacon, a former City College student, is charging that the college failed to protect her from its employee, who it should have known was "a sexual predator who preyed on young women," according to the official complaint filed Nov. 4, 2005.
The Santa Barbara Community College District, Superintendent-President John Romo Kafatia and Security Director John Dafoe are all defendants in the case along with the City College. Dafoe remains on a medical leave of absence, which began the day after The Channels published a story looking into the security department's records keeping. In rebuttal, Romo maintained that City College is a safe campus. He said it is college procedure not to comment directly on pending litigation. However, he did repeat statements he made in the past concerning former security officer Kafatia.
"As I have always said, the Kafatia situation was a terrible crime," Romo said. "Nothing in [Kafatia's] record while he worked at the college offered us any indication this could happen."
On Dec. 6, 2003, a woman on campus reported an assault and attempted rape to the Santa Barbara Police Department. She described her attacker as a dark skinned male, clean cut, athletic build with a slight accent driving a pickup truck, according to documents obtained from the court.
Deacon's claim states that, "Defendants knew, or should have known, that defendant Kent Wesley Kafatia is a dark skin, clean cut, athletic male who is from the country of Malawi and speaks with a slight accent." The claim goes on to say that, "Kafatia regularly worked the overnight shift driving a security truck as he did the morning of Dec. 6, 2003."
On Nov. 14, 2004, Kent Kafatia was working the graveyard shift when he offered Natasha Deacon a ride home in a campus security truck. Instead of dropping her off at her home, he drove to 303 La Marina Drive where he held her captive and forcibly raped her. On July 5, 2005, Kafatia was convicted of rape and false imprisonment and is now serving an eight-year sentence in prison.
Deacon, a former City College student, is charging that the college failed to protect her from its employee, who it should have known was "a sexual predator who preyed on young women," according to the official complaint filed Nov. 4, 2005.
The Santa Barbara Community College District, Superintendent-President John Romo Kafatia and Security Director John Dafoe are all defendants in the case along with the City College. Dafoe remains on a medical leave of absence, which began the day after The Channels published a story looking into the security department's records keeping. In rebuttal, Romo maintained that City College is a safe campus. He said it is college procedure not to comment directly on pending litigation. However, he did repeat statements he made in the past concerning former security officer Kafatia.
"As I have always said, the Kafatia situation was a terrible crime," Romo said. "Nothing in [Kafatia's] record while he worked at the college offered us any indication this could happen."
On Dec. 6, 2003, a woman on campus reported an assault and attempted rape to the Santa Barbara Police Department. She described her attacker as a dark skinned male, clean cut, athletic build with a slight accent driving a pickup truck, according to documents obtained from the court.
Deacon's claim states that, "Defendants knew, or should have known, that defendant Kent Wesley Kafatia is a dark skin, clean cut, athletic male who is from the country of Malawi and speaks with a slight accent." The claim goes on to say that, "Kafatia regularly worked the overnight shift driving a security truck as he did the morning of Dec. 6, 2003."
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