On Oct. 10, Clarence Cernal, an administrative assistant for the Citrus College Foundation was arrested and charged on allegations of rape by force and sex penetration by force.
The Citrus College Campus Safety online crime log said the alleged rape occurred at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 27.
On Dec. 5, Srgt. Henderson from the Glendora Police Department gave Cernal’s arrest log to the Clarion, after an initial request for the arrest log was made on Oct. 17.
The arrest log stated that Cernal was arrested at 1:52 p.m on Oct. 10. at Citrus College. The Campus Safety Crime Log indicates that the arrest occurred in the Center of Innovation.
Cernal’s bail was set at $200,000 but the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Inmate Information Center’s website stated Cernal posted bail for $100,000 at 10:20 p.m. on Oct. 10.
The website also stated that Cernal was scheduled for a court date on Oct. 15 at Pomona Municipal Court.
On Nov. 14, a Clarion editor sent a California Public Records Law request to Dr. Geraldine M. Perri, Brenda Fink, Robert Sammis, Ben Macias and Christina Garcia to provide the Clarion with all emails, documents, or messages between each person, or group of people, between Sept. 27 and Nov. 10.
Perri is the superintendent president of Citrus, Fink is the Title IV coordinator, Sammis is the director of Human Resources, Macias is the director of Campus Safety and Garcia is the director of The Foundation.
The administrators had 10 days to provide the information requested. If they chose to redact emails or sections of an email, they needed to provide a written explanation, per California Public Records Act section 6255, A and B.
It has been 17 business days since the request for information there have been no emails provided to the Clarion.
Dr. Sammis stated in an email, “the day period is to acknowledge whether the requested records are public records.”
The 10 day period requires all information requested to be given to the person requesting the information. All emails sent from a Citrus College email account are considered public record. Sammis told a Clarion editor during an interview on Nov. 20 that he would look through the emails and redact all emails or parts of emails that would disclose information protected under federal privacy laws.
Sammis has not given the Clarion a date when the requested information will be provided.
On Nov. 15, a Clarion editor requested interviews with Ben Macias, Dr. Geraldine M. Perri, Brenda Fink, Dr. Robert Sammis and Christina Garcia. The editor sent a follow up email on Dec. 4 to request interviews again after only receiving a response from Sammis.
Fink and Macias have not responded to either request for an interview.
Perri stated in an email she cannot speak about the incident because it is a personnel matter.
Garcia stated in an email, “Dr. Sammis handles public records requests, as well as responding to interview requests regarding employee matters.”
The Clarion editor asked Garcia if she would be willing to discuss the future of The Foundation and how they plan to move past this incident, but Garcia has not responded as of Dec. 9.
The Clarion is continuing to report on this story. If more verifiable information becomes available, the story will be updated.
