Camarillo, CALIFORNIA

The judge criticized letters of support for the defendant — letters that downplayed the theft, particularly one that called it "an unfortunate incident."

"This is predatory criminal conduct. It's not an unfortunate incident," the judge said.

Nov 20, 2007 - Kristen Santoyo, 37, a para-professional (teacher's aide) at Camarillo High School, was arrested for stealing lunch money from a special needs student. She was arrested on suspicion of burglary and petty theft with a prior conviction.

Once campus security got word that someone was taking lunch money from a student's bag, they set up a camera in the area.The mother of the little girl says she began getting worried when her child returned home hungry.

A review of the videotape showed that Kristen Rene Santoyo stole money from the student's property in a classroom on at least one occasion. Santoyo possessed a glass smoking pipe and was under the influence of a controlled substance when arrested.
Full Name: Kristen Rene Santoyo

SENTENCED March 5, 2008 - Santoyo was sentenced to six months in jail - not prison - for stealing lunch money from a disabled student at Camarillo High School, followed by four years' probation. In addition, Santoyo was ordered to pay $285 restitution to the student and to attend at least one year of weekly child abuse counseling sessions.

Santoyo was charged with stealing the victim's lunch money on 57 separate occasions between September and November. Her attorney said that Santoyo suffered from a drug abuse problem that resulted in bad judgment. Santoyo pleaded guilty Jan. 16 to felony petty theft and misdemeanor cruelty to a child by inflicting injury

CRIMINAL RECORD School officials said Santoyo, who worked for the district for about 12 years, was fingerprinted and underwent a background check before she was hired in 1996.

One year later, a new electronic database called "Live Scan" went online to keep track of employee fingerprints and alert school officials to any new criminal charges. So although Santoyo was convicted in 2001 of theft at a Mervyn's department store and sentenced to 15 days in jail, the district never learned of the criminal record because she was not in the system, said Roger Rice, a district official.