Fillmore man to be sentenced in chatroom case, gambling charges filed

Lina PortmanJune 3, 2024

1 2 minutes read

Here is a summary of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Former Fillmore minister pleads guilty in online sex case

A former Fillmore minister pleaded guilty last week to sending harmful material to a child and arranging to meet a minor for a lewd purpose.

Barry Don Fike, 68, was arrested last July after he allegedly began communicating online with a subject he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. The conversations were sexual in nature and Fike shared explicit photos of himself with the subject, who was actually an undercover agent, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a news release issued Friday.

Fike was a pastor at Fillmore Church of Christ and previously taught at Oaks Christian High School and Pepperdine University, according to the prosecutor's statement.

The chat room used by Fike did not have security features to verify a person's age or monitor communication, the press release said.

The defendant, identified as a Fillmore resident, is scheduled to be sentenced July 15 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 11 of Ventura County Superior Court, Ventura.

4 people charged in illegal gambling operation in Simi Valley

Four individuals have been charged with crimes related to an illicit gambling operation run out of a Simi Valley residence, authorities announced late last week.

The defendants were charged with three counts of pandering, three counts of pandering and one count of bookmaking. Two of them face an additional charge of money laundering. Each count carries a specific allegation that the manner in which the crime was committed indicates planning, sophistication and professionalism. They all pleaded not guilty.

The defendants live in Simi Valley and Los Angeles, according to the district attorney's office.

Simi Valley police said they began investigating a city residence suspected of being the site of an illegal gambling operation as well as drug sales and other criminal activity after receiving information last August . They eventually discovered the location was hosting illegal gambling and prostitution and supplying illegal narcotics, according to a release from the Simi Valley Police Department.

Former Fillmore minister pleads guilty in online sex case

Lina Portman

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