Re: your July 24 article, “Guardian for disabled accused of theft, fraud”:

My name is Esther Anaya; however, I am not Esther Anaya Torres. My name may sound familiar as The Star has been following the investigation of a county employee who is charged with embezzling $93,000 from the disabled.

It just so happens that my name is Esther Anaya and I also work with disabled individuals. I work with a private nonprofit agency that funds support services for developmentally disabled individuals. I have worked in this field the better part of 10 years.

The article in the July 24 paper has made many professionals in my field, personal contacts and others question my morals and ethics, since they are mistakenly assuming that I am Esther Torres-Anaya.

This has been a great devastation for me and my family, as suddenly my professional and personal character have been questioned based on the article and the potential misconduct of someone with a name almost identical to mine.

My family, neighbors and most friends immediately knew this was a grave coincidence of similarity of name. I am also thankful to my co-workers who have managed to put a humorous spin on the name similarity and also for those individuals who knew, based on previous contacts with me, that the article was referring to someone else.

I decided to write this letter to clarify that the article is referring to another Anaya who works in the social service field.

— Esther Anaya, Oxnard