Texas man accused of sexual assault of Thousand Oaks teen

An El Paso man was extradited to Ventura County after police say he sexually assaulted a Thousand Oaks teen in December.

Harold Eugene Smith, 27, is accused of committing a lewd act upon a child, sending harmful matter to a minor, and luring a child.

Smith was in contact with a 14-year-old Thousand Oaks girl through social media. Smith traveled approximately 850 miles from El Paso to Thousand Oaks and picked up the girl from school.

The girl’s mother contacted authorities and detectives from the Thousand Oaks Investigative Bureau Sexual Assault Unit began investigating the case.

Detectives wrote multiple search warrants and were able to obtain a felony arrest warrant for Smith.

The Ventura County Superior Court issued a $1,000,000 warrant for the arrest of Smith.

Detective began a joint investigation with the El Paso Police Department. In January, detectives with the Thousand Oaks Sexual Assault Unit traveled to El Paso Texas and along with local law enforcement served a search warrant at Smith’s residence and arrested him for possession of narcotics and the Ventura County Warrant.

Smith served a 5 month sentence in El Paso for the possession of narcotics.

On June 9, Smith was extradited back to Ventura County on the outstanding warrant. He was later booked into the East County Jail facility and held on $1,000,000 bail.

Smith appeared in court on June 12 for his arraignment where he pled not guilty to all counts. He is scheduled to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on June 23 for a preliminary hearing.

Authorities would like to remind parents to be vigilant and monitor their children’s social media accounts as well as text, telephone, and online conversations. They say internet predators intentionally access sites that children visit and can even search for potential victims by location or interest.