San Mateo children’s museum director fired

CuriOdyssey’s director of education allegedly shown trying to meet boy, 14, in YouTube video

SAN MATEO >> The director of education at a mid-Peninsula children’s museum has been fired after a video posted on YouTube showed him attempting to meet up with a minor at a store, the museum announced Wednesday.

In a statement issued late Tuesday to member families of CuriOdyssey museum in San Mateo, Executive Director Aragon Burlingham said museum officials learned last week of the incident involving Director of Education Carl Oosterman, 53.

San Jose police have confirmed they are investigating the incident, a spokesperson said.

In the YouTube video taken by CC Unit — a San Diego-based group whose members pose as minors to expose online predators — Oosterman is confronted inside a San Jose Target store on July 6 by a YouTuber identified as Ghost who said he has recordings of all Oosterman’s text conversations with a 14-year-old boy played by another member of CC Unit. After Ghost repeatedly threatens to report him to police if he refuses to have a conversation, Oosterman agrees to leave the store to talk.

Oosterman sits down on a curb and, in response to questions, says he’s there to meet a teenager named “Josh” who told him that he was visiting the Bay Area from Los Angeles and wanted to meet up with someone.

After Oosterman asks him for some identification showing what organization Ghost belongs to, Ghost threatens to call police and shows a screenshot of messages he sent to “Josh” on Grindr asking him for sex and to cuddle.

A back and forth ensues between the two in the video and Oosterman begins to walk to his car as the YouTuber follows him.

In an interview with this news organization, Ghost — who didn’t want to be identified for privacy reasons — said he reported the incident to San Mateo and San Jose police July 8 and gave them the text conversation logs on Monday.

San Jose police spokesman Christian Camarillo said in a statement Tuesday that the department’s Internet Crimes against Children Unit, with some assistance from San Mateo police, “has received the preliminary information regarding Mr. Oosterman’s activity” and confirmed the incident is under investigation. It is not known if police have made contact with Oosterman.

“Mr. Oosterman has been terminated because of his off-site conduct last week,” museum Executive Director Burlingham said in the letter to CuriOdys

sey families. “While the incident at the department store did not involve anyone at our summer camp, we were shocked and outraged at his abhorrent behavior which, of course, is completely contrary to our mission and values and all that we stand for.

“While his primary role was managerial at our summer camp, there would be occasions where Mr. Oosterman would have interacted with campers. However, given our internal investigation, we are not presently aware of any reports of misconduct or child safety concerns raised about Mr. Oosterman during his 17-year tenure at CuriOdyssey, nor are we aware of any concerns about any other employees.”

Burlingham did not return a request for further comment, and officials at the museum referred this news organization to a statement on the museum’s Facebook post. The post says Oosterman has worked at CuriOdyssey since 2004, and in his role as education director has had close contact with children, including leading educational camping trips promoted by area schools.

The specialty camps and camp leader training program both ended in 2019, however, because of transportation challenges, according to Burlingham.

Established on the grounds of the failed 1950s era Coyote Point amusement park, CuriOdyssey is a mid-Peninsula science playground and zoo catering to children and families where visitors can see wild animals up close and play with kid-friendly science exhibits.

In an interview, Ghost said Oosterman reached out to a decoy playing the teenager about 7:03 p.m. July 6. The decoy talked with Oosterman for about two hours, and text conversations show Oosterman said he was “fine” with the decoy’s age and, after getting more comfortable, Ghost said he “started talking more graphically” and asked him to meet.

Ghost said Oosterman planned to meet the 14-year-old around 10 p.m. that same evening in the Target video aisle, just before the store closed. Ghost said he hopes the contents of the video, which show the meet-up, and text conversations lead to Oosterman’s arrest.

“I just want him to never work with kids ever again,” Ghost said. “He doesn’t belong anywhere near kids at all.”