Former Watsonville teacher arrested across country in child sex probe

A former Santa Cruz County teacher at a Christian school was arrested in New York last week on suspicion of committing lewd acts with a teenage student, police said.

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Jacob Lee, 28, a former teacher at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville, faces multiple counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies began investigating Lee in April after receiving a report about an alleged incident in 2022, when Lee was teaching at the school. Detectives with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Sex Crimes Unit identified Lee as the suspect, the sheriff’s office said.

Months after the investigation began, Santa Cruz County detectives traveled to Suffolk County, New York, on Aug. 14 to facilitate Lee’s arrest.

Investigators believe there could be additional victims because Lee was a teacher at the time of the alleged conduct and was also involved in the church community, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities did not identify the church.

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“Moving across the country does not make those allegations disappear,” Sheriff Chris Clark said in a statement. “Our detectives remained committed to this investigation and worked to locate the suspect in New York.”

The investigation remains active. Anyone with information is asked to contact the investigating detective at 831-454-7646.

The sheriff’s office said Monte Vista Christian School has fully cooperated with the investigation. SFGATE reached out to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education for comment but did not immediately hear back by the time of publication.