A Kern County judge has sentenced the father of Genesis Mata for previous cases related to illegal use of guns and drugs. Ray Mata, Jr., 31, received two years probation and 70 days in jail Monday, with most of that time already credited. Court records show he pleaded no contest in July to carrying a…… Read More
Kern County Sheriff’s deputies shut down an illegal gambling casino in Oildale. Investigators served a search warrant at around 8:00 a.m Sunday at a business in the 900 block of North Chester Avenue where they say they found a fully operating casino. Officials seized more than $5,000 in cash, several slot machine computer units, and…… Read More
A Bakersfield police DUI checkpoint lands four drivers behind bars for allegedly driving drunk. Six vehicles were impounded, and two drivers were cited for driver’s license violations during the operation Friday night into early Saturday morning in the 1500 block of L Street in downtown Bakersfield. Additional officers conducted a roving DUI patrol near the…… Read More
The Kern County Sheriffs Office says the stepmother of Genesis Mata, 8, was attacked in jail. Officials say Graciela Bustamonte, 27, was assaulted August 8, 2025, by another inmate and was taken to a hospital then returned to custody. Charges are pending against the suspect identified as Anita Doron. Bustamonte and the child’s father, Ray…… Read More
Nearly five thousand people have signed a petition demanding an independent investigation into Kern County’s Child Protective Services. The petition calls for a probe into the department following the torture and murder of Genesis Mata, 8, allegedly by her father and stepmother. The petition on Change.org was launched on August 5, 2025, by Josefina Villarreal…… Read More
A judge has delayed the preliminary hearing for a Bakersfield couple accused of torturing and killing an 8-year-old girl. Ray Mata, Jr., 31, and Graciela Bustamonte, 27, are set to appear in court October 16, 2025. Mata and Bustamonte are the father and stepmother of Genesis Mata whose abandoned body was discovered August 2 in…… Read More
A former Kern County Sheriff’s deputy will spend more than five years in prison for numerous sex crimes. A judge on Thursday sentenced Michael Clark to five years and eight months, denied his request for a new trial, and ordered a 10-year restraining order and restitution to his victims. Clark was convicted in June on…… Read More
A man who admitted to sexual battery after attacking a woman in northeast Bakersfield has been sentenced to four years in prison. Anton Hill, 24 , learned his fate Thursday after he tried to rape the woman who reported being attacked from behind and sexually assaulted while she was exercising in the 10000 block of…… Read More
Bakersfield Police Department officers are looking for a man and woman who stole items from a residence in the 1300 block of Dunaire Drive on Wednesday. The suspects are described as a white female in her fifties with floral tattoos on her left forearm, and a white man in his fifties with brown hair and…… Read More
An inmate at North Kern State Prison in Delano was sentenced Wednesday to 85 years to life for killing his cell mate. Willy Clay, 36, learned his fate after being convicted of first degree murder and aggravated assault in the death of Lawrence Tate, 63, on January 1, 2020. Staff found Tate critically injured inside…… Read More
