Ronald Wilson, who coached wrestling for four decades at Oxnard and Camarillo high schools, has been arrested and charged with 12 felony counts related to the alleged sexual assaults of three underaged female students, according to the Ventura County sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices.
The 72-year-old Wilson was arrested at his home in Timnath, Colo., on May 18 following an investigation by Ventura sheriff’s officers into claims by one alleged victim that he initiated and maintained a sexual relationship with her while she was a student at Camarillo High from 2014-2017. He was released on $120,000 bail.
At that time, five felony counts — unlawful sexual intercourse, lewd act upon a child, sodomy of a person under 18 and two counts of luring — were filed against Wilson.
Ventura County Superior Court records show Wilson pleaded not guilty on all counts during a July 10 arraignment hearing. After the hearing, Wilson was arrested again by Ventura County sheriff’s officers on seven additional felony counts related to the alleged sexual assaults of two former students who stepped forward after Wilson’s first arrest.
“One victim reports the abuse occurred at Oxnard High School in 1990,” the district attorney’s office said in a news release. “The second victim alleges she was assaulted at Camarillo High School during the 2015-2016 school year.”
An additional seven felony counts — sexual penetration with force, violence, duress, menace or fear; two counts of lewd act upon a child; luring; sodomy; rape by force; and forcible oral copulation — were filed, the district attorney’s office said.
Wilson is being held in the Ventura County main jail on a $390,000 bond. He has an arraignment hearing on the new charges scheduled for Sept. 9.
“The investigation is ongoing, and Detectives believe that there are still additional victims that have not been identified,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release following Wilson’s second arrest.
The Oxnard Union High School District did not respond to a request for comment. In a news release following Wilson’s arrest in May, the sheriff’s office said that the school district “is aware of the arrest and is fully cooperating with the investigation” and is “committed to supporting the victim and ensuring a safe environment for all members of their school community.”
Wilson wrestled at Camarillo High and UC Santa Barbara. He spent 13 years as head wrestling coach at Oxnard and 27 more in the same position at Camarillo before retiring in 2020. He has been inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame and the California branch of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.