LAKE HUGHES, Calif.
The former chief executive officer of The Painted Turtle, a nonprofit specialty camp serving children with chronic and life-threatening medical conditions, has been charged with allegedly embezzling more than $5.2 million from the organization over a seven-year period, state prosecutors said.
Christopher L. Butler, 48, of Porter Ranch is charged with 15 felony counts — nine counts of grand theft, five counts of forgery and one count of fraudulent use of a computer — stemming from alleged misconduct between 2018 and 2025, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
“Abusing a position of power to steal funds from a camp dedicated to helping children with serious medical conditions is an affront to both the law and our deepest values,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement. “If you steal from the most vulnerable members of our community or the organizations that serve them, this office will use every tool the law allows to hold you fully accountable.”
The case, filed Dec. 29, 2025, is being held on $835,000 bail.
If convicted as charged, Butler faces more than 18 years in state prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Steve Dickman of the District Attorney’s White Collar Crime Division.
It remains under investigation by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.