Morning Report: Southwestern Title IX Investigation Took an Unexpected Turn

Two years ago, investigators were looking into a Title IX complaint against Southwestern College professor John Tolli when they made a shocking find: Tolli’s work computer contained a trove of nude photos of himself and other students, plus videos of him having sex with a student in his office and videos of him masturbating.

Documents show one former student of Tolli’s who had a sexual relationship with him told investigators that she’d felt preyed on by Tolli’s status, then pressured to stay quiet about their affair. She shared with the investigator an email in which he had told her that a complaint to the college would have no merit, so “save yourself the embarrassment.”

During the investigation, the biology professor said his behavior did not demonstrate that he was a bad teacher, it instead reflected that he was a bad husband.

Southwestern officials refused to disclose the investigation documents to the school’s newspaper, The Sun. It only released the documents after the involvement of a VOSD lawyer.

A resignation agreement between the school and Tolli shows he was allowed to quietly resign, and Southwestern officials agreed not to mention the findings to prospective employers. 

He now works at San Diego City College.

Report: Man Dies in ICE Custody in San Diego

A 37-year-old man from Cameroon died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in San Diego Tuesday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, Buzzfeed reported Wednesday.

The fiscal year began on Tuesday, which means the man is the first person to die in ICE custody so far this fiscal year. Eight people died in custody in the 2019 fiscal year.

The man went to the border in early September at the San Ysidro Port of Entry and applied for protection, Buzzfeed reported, and has since been held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

Last month, Maya Srikrishnan dug through years’ worth of medical complaints and other documents from the facility that alleged grave medical negligence.

This summer saw record-high levels of African asylum-seekers traveling through Mexico to seek asylum in the United States. Cameroonians made up the largest numbers of African migrants in Mexico since 2018, according to data from the Mexican government. 

Many asylum-seekers from Cameroon are members of the Anglophone minority in the country. The nation has faced both an insurgency in its English-speaking regions and attacks from the Boko Haram Islamist faction, driving many to leave. Many African asylum-seekers traveled through parts of South America, the dense jungles of Panama and through the rest of Central America and Mexico to reach the U.S. border, where they’re often forced to wait for months for their opportunity to turn themselves in to request asylum. There are also more than 1,000 African asylum-seekers currently stuck in southern Mexico who want to reach the U.S. border.

Crossroads Is Part Gun Sales, Part Political Theater

For the latest North County Report, Jesse Marx took a trip to Del Mar’s controversial Crossroads of the West Gun Show.

The event returned to Del Mar last week after a recent victory in court. The state-appointed board that oversees the fairgrounds suspended Crossroads last year after receiving political pressure from residents and officials. The organizers sued, and a federal judge ruled that the gun show could continue to operate while the lawsuit proceeded.

“Yes, it is a marketplace for firearms,” writes Marx, “but it is also a middle finger to progressive politics.”

One vendor boasted that you could make your own AR-15, the same military-style weapon used to kill a woman and wound others inside Chabad of Poway Synagogue in April, for less than $500. Another was selling gold-colored hand guards with “Trump” written along the side.

Any day now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a bill authored by San Diego Assemblyman Todd Gloria and Assemblywomen Tasha Boerner Horvath and Lorena Gonzalez banning all gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Tell Us Your Story About School Choice

If you’ve navigated school choice, you may know just how daunting of a process it can be.

We’re looking for parents who have experience with school choice to contribute to our upcoming Parent’s Guide to Public Schools and an upcoming podcast episode of Good Schools for All. What was your experience like? Did your child get into the school you wanted? What are important factors parents should consider?

If you have an experience or advice you’d like to share, please send your story to our engagement editor at megan.wood@voiceofsandiego.org.

In Other News

• A new audit says the city spends nearly $2 million each year collecting trash from homes used as short-term vacation rentals even though those homes should be ineligible for free trash pick-up. (Union-Tribune)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom said he is keeping up to 100 National Guard troops at the border until March to help the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Counter Terrorism Operations Center. (Associated Press)
• Newsom also signed nearly two dozen laws aimed at preventing and fighting wildfires. (Associated Press)

The Morning Report was written by Megan Wood and Maya Srikrishnan, and edited by Sara Libby.