East Palo Alto school worker arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts with minor

EAST PALO ALTO – An employee at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School was arrested Monday on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a minor, police said.

On Sept. 6, the East Palo Alto Police Department opened an investigation into allegations that 54-year-old Stockton resident James Edward Fitch had “engaged in lewd acts with a minor at his place of employment,” Chief Jeff Liu said in a news release.

Fitch served as a campus relations coordinator at the school, according to police and school officials.

Liu said detectives “developed probable cause to arrest Fitch for three felony counts of lewd acts with a minor and one felony count of enticing a minor for lewd acts.”

On Monday, the police department partnered with the United States Marshals Service to serve a $500,000 arrest and search warrant at Fitch’s residence, Liu said.

Fitch was expected to be booked into San Mateo County jail.

Cmdr. David Santos, a spokesperson for the police department, said he could not provide any additional details about the case, including when the alleged crimes occurred, because the investigation is ongoing.

“We wanted to share what we had so that the public was aware of the situation and if anyone has any information that might be helpful to the investigation, we want to encourage them to share that with us,” Santos said in an email to this news organization.

The Ravenswood City School District placed Fitch on administrative leave after learning he had been identified as a suspect in the case, Superintendent Gina Sudaria said in a statement. The move bars him from entering any district campus and restricts his access to students.

Fitch is a long-term district employee and had “passed all fingerprinting and background checks,” Sudaria said.

Sudaria said the district is “deeply saddened for the involved student and their family.”

“We will continue to offer support services and counseling,” she said. “We will also continue to make ourselves available to assist the police and the district attorney as this case moves forward.”

Anyone with information related to the case can contact Detective Sgt. Jose Luaorozco at 650-629-4538. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call or text 650-409-6792, or email epa@tipnow.org.

Check back for updates.