Former Cal Poly administrator charged with child molestation
A former Cal Poly associate vice president has been accused of molesting a child and pleaded not guilty the charges Monday.
On Aug. 27, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office charged Richard Edward Ellison, 69, with committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14. The offense allegedly occurred on March 30. San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said the alleged crime occurred at Ellison’s Arroyo Grande home.
Court records show Ellison posted a $100,000 bond on Sept. 22, avoiding arrest, and was expected to enter a plea to the crimes on Monday. San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Rita Federman required Ellison not to have any unsupervised contact with minors under 18 and issued a protective order preventing Ellison from contacting his alleged victim, court records show.
Federman also ordered Ellison report to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office or a local police department within seven days to be booked on the charges and be photographed and fingerprinted, Dow said.
Ellison first worked at Cal Poly from 1998 to 2005, university spokesperson Keegan Koberl told The Tribune in an email. He returned to the university in September 2014, when he was named associate vice president of development and worked on fundraising campaigns, according to previous Tribune reporting.
He left the university in 2015, Koberl said.
Koberl did not provide comment on Ellison’s charges or his past employment with the university.
Ellison is now the executive director of Bike SLO County, according to the organization’s website. The group advocates for biking safety and expansion.
“He played a lead role with the first fundraising campaign in the history of Cal Poly and the CSU,” according to his biography for Bike SLO County, which says he moved to SLO 20 years ago to take a job as Cal Poly’s associated vice president of university advancement.
“His professional background involves leading community development, alumni relations, major gift fundraising and campaign fundraising in higher education and health care,” the bio also said.
Ellison has also competed in triathlons for more than 30 years and has served as a collegiate triathlon coach.
Ellison’s next court date was scheduled for Nov. 18.
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM.
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