West Marin School Superintendent Bob Raines Suspected Of Committing Lewd Act With A Child
MARIN COUNTY (CBS SF/KPIX) -- The Marin County Sheriff's Office confirmed the Tuesday arrest of the Shoreline Unified School District Superintendent on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a child.
The sheriff's office said that 66-year-old Petaluma resident Robert Patrick Raines was arrested on Tuesday after probable cause was developed for that Raines committed lewd acts with a minor child under the age of 14.
The arrest came after a week-long investigation. On June 1, the Marin County Sheriff's Office received a report of possible criminal allegations involving a staff member of the Shoreline Unified School District.
The staff member was identified as Superintendent Raines, who was immediately placed on administrative leave by the district pending the outcome of the investigation. The sheriff's office said the case was investigated by its school resource officer and investigations detectives.
The Marin County Office of Education was notified of the arrest, authorities said.
"The health, safety and well-being of all of our students is our most important priority" said Superintendent of Schools for the Marin County Office of Education Mary Jane Burke in a statement. "It is the mandate of all schools to follow all relevant laws with regard to any allegations of child abuse. The district took swift and immediate action notifying the Marin County Sheriff's Office and placed Mr. Raines on leave."
"I am beyond shocked," says Dru Fallon O'Neill, the President of Tomales Village Community Services Board.
O'Neill couldn't believe the man she has known for years could possibly be responsible for hurting a child. O'Neill says Bob Raines announced his retirement last October and was supposed to call it a career at the end of this month.
Fallon adds, "When we have people that we know and we support, this kind of allegation is a real black eye."
Parents were also in disbelief.
"It's pretty disgusting that anybody that someone in control of schools and education around children would do this kind of thing," says Michael Keel, the father of two young boys says.
Raines took over as Superintendent of Shoreline Unified in 2016. A former principal sued him and the District for defamation and retaliation but this is the first allegation of this kind.
Raines told the Marin Independent Journal he was innocent of the charges.
Andrea Nakano contributed to this report.