Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Sex Crimes

Suspect arrested after he took a 4-year-old boy from Jerome Park in order to molest him

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Law Enforcement Works with Concerned Citizens to Stop a Sexual Predator and Save a Child Victim

On July 27, 2016, the 4-year-old victim and several family members were celebrating a birthday at Jerome Park in Santa Ana. At about 8:15 PM, the 4-year-old playing on the playground with other children. A few minutes later, the child’s mother lost sight of her son and began searching for him. After failing to locate her son, the child’s mother called the Santa Ana Police Department, who immediately responded to the area to continue the search.

Santa Ana Police Officers utilized the OCSD Air Support Unit helicopter to broadcast the description of the lost 4-year-old child to the nearby community. Two concerned citizens saw a child matching the description of the lost child in a nearby market. The child was being accompanied by Armando Torreblanca Núñez, 28, of Santa Ana. The citizens confronted Nunez, who released the child and tried to flee the scene. The citizens detained Nunez and called police officers who responded to the scene immediately. The child was unharmed and returned to the mother. Continue reading→

Mayor Miguel Pulido and Lady Gaga team up to stop sexual violence

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Women 1 Comment

Mayor Pulido and Lady Gaga Work Together to Oppose Sexual Violence and Bring Awareness to the Cause

Source: Mayor Miguel Pulido’s monthly newsletter

Mayor Miguel Pulido recently had the honor of meeting Lady Gaga as the super star artist took part in a panel discussion on the global significance of building compassionate cities along with His Holiness the Dali Lama during the US Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis. A victim of sexual assault at the age of 19, Lady Gaga emphasized the importance of working with young people to develop kindness and compassion.

As part of her efforts to stand against sexual violence, Lady Gaga has joined Vice President Joe Biden on his “It’s On Us” initiative to end sexual assault on college campuses. Gaga’s Oscar-nominated song “Til It Happens To You” is the track she co-wrote and recorded for The Hunting Ground, the 2015 documentary film about sexual assault on campuses. Continue reading→

Santa Ana serial rape suspect committed suicide after being released on bail

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: DETECTIVES MAKE ARREST IN SEXUAL ASSAULT SERIES

A series of sexual assaults occurred in Santa Ana involving the same male suspect and three self-admitted female prostitute victims. One attack took place in August 2015, and two additional crimes happened in January 2016. In each assault, the suspect posed as a police officer and lured the victims into his car. The suspect then drove the victims to secluded locations, where he forcefully raped two of them. The third victim had escaped before the rape occurred.

On June 2, 2016, the Santa Ana Police Department released information to the public regarding the sexual assaults. Santa Ana Police detectives asked people to come forward with any tips that might lead to the suspect’s identification. As a result of the news release, Joseph Raymond Stanton, 42, of Long Beach, was identified as a possible suspect. Continue reading→

Man caught via his DNA charged with robbing, beating, kidnapping and raping a store employee

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Fountain Valley, Little Saigon, OCDA, Vietnamese Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 16WF1326

Date: June 24, 2016

MAN IDENTIFIED THROUGH DNA TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ROBBING, KIDNAPPING, AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STORE EMPLOYEE

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man identified through a DNA hit was charged today with robbing, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting a store employee in 2012. Danny Thien Nguyen, 26, Garden Grove, is charged with one felony count each of sexual penetration by foreign object and force, kidnapping to commit a sex offense, second degree burglary, second degree robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 31 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Nguyen is being held on $1 million bail. His scheduled arraignment in court was continued today to Monday, June 27, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. Continue reading→

Paroled sex offender busted again for pimping a young woman in Santa Ana

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 15CF0630

Date: June 20, 2016

PAROLEE SEX OFFENDER ON GPS MONITORING DEVICE SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR PANDERING AND ATTEMPTED PIMPING OF 18-YEAR-OLD WOMAN

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A parolee sex offender on a GPS monitoring device was sentenced Friday, June 17, 2016, to eight years in state prison for the pandering and attempted pimping of an 18-year-old woman. Eddie Bridges III, 38, Compton, was found guilty by a jury on July 29, 2015, of one felony count of attempted pimping and one felony count of pandering by procuring. The defendant’s sentencing enhancements for prior prison convictions in Los Angeles County in 2007 for the pimping and pandering of a minor, pimping and pandering of an adult, and a prior prison conviction in 2011 for attempted pandering, and serving separate prison terms but not remaining free for five years, were also found to be true. Continue reading→

Repeat offender sentenced to life in prison after trying to rape three women in Westminster

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Westminster Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 11WF3019

Date: June 6, 2016

FLORIDA INMATE SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS CONSECUTIVE TO TWO LIFE SENTENCES IN PRISON FOR ASSAULTING, KIDNAPPING, AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING THREE WOMEN NEAR WESTMINSTER PARK

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Florida inmate was sentenced today to two life sentences to be served consecutively to 10 years and eight months in state prison for assaulting, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting three women near a park in Westminster. Arnold Eduardo Martinez, 35, Blackwater Correctional Facility, Florida, was found guilty by a jury on May 4, 2016, of one felony count of attempted kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, three felony counts of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense, two felony counts of kidnapping to commit a sexual offense, one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury, and one felony count of false personation. Sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury and great bodily injury to a sexual assault victim were found to be true. Continue reading→

Two Santa Ana men and six others convicted of trying to hook up with prostitutes

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 2 Comments

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Date: June 3, 2016

EIGHT MEN CONVICTED OF LOITERING WITH INTENT TO COMMIT PROSTITUTION OR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

*Conviction details of sex purchasers are featured on the OCDA website

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) convicted eight men in May 2016 of loitering with the intent to commit prostitution or agreeing to engage in prostitution. The defendants in these cases approached a woman whom they believed to be a prostitute, or loitered in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. Each of the defendants below agreed to engage, or loitered with the intent to engage, in commercial sex with a woman and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement.

Defendant/Conviction/Sentence: Continue reading→

The SAPD is looking for a rapist who pretends to be an undercover cop

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: Detectives Seeking Media and Public’s Assistance Identifying Suspect Responsible For A Series Of Sexual Assaults

The Santa Ana Police Department is seeking the media and public’s help identifying the person responsible for committing a series of sexual assaults. One assault occurred in August 2015, and two additional assaults occurred in January 2016.

Each of the assaults occurred on Harbor Boulevard near Hazard in Santa Ana and each involved victims who admitted to being prostitutes. In each case, the suspect approached the victim and claimed to be an undercover officer. After coaxing each victim into his vehicle, the suspect drove the victims to secluded locations where he sexually assaulted them. Continue reading→

Fourteen Orange County men convicted of trying to hook up with prostitutes

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Date: May 10, 2016

FOURTEEN MEN CONVICTED OF LOITERING WITH INTENT TO COMMIT PROSTITUTION OR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

*Conviction details of sex purchasers are featured on the OCDA website

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) convicted 14 men in March 2016 and April 2016 of unlawfully engaging in lewd and dissolute conduct in a public place and in a place open to the public and exposed to public view, loitering with the intent to commit prostitution, or agreeing to engage in prostitution. The defendants in these cases approached a woman, whom they believed to be a prostitute, or loitered in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. Each of the defendants below agreed to engage, or loitered with the intent to engage, in commercial sex with a woman and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement. Continue reading→

Man sentenced to just over 4 years in prison after raping his friend’s daughter for 10 years

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 2 Comments

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14CF1692

Date: April 15, 2016

MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FRIEND’S 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER FOR 10 YEARS

FULLERTON, Calif. – A man was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison today for sexually assaulting a friend’s 15-year-old daughter for a decade. Isidro Medrano Garcia, 42, Bell Gardens, was found guilty by a jury on March 4, 2016, of three felony counts of lewd acts on a minor. Garcia also received mandatory lifetime sex offender registration as a term of his sentence.

The victim testified to the following in trial: Continue reading→

The OCDA seeks additional victims of a Vietnamese entertainer who sexually assaulted a boy

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Garden Grove, OCDA Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 16WF0648

Date: March 28, 2016

OCDA SEEKS PUBLIC’S HELP IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF WELL-KNOWN VIETNAMESE ENTERTAINER “MINH BEO” CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING MINOR BOY

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a well-known Vietnamese entertainer “Minh Beo” charged with sexually assaulting a minor boy. Minh Quang Hong, who goes by the stage name “Minh Beo”, 38, Garden Grove, was charged Friday, March 25, 2016, with one felony count of oral copulation of a minor, one felony count of attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child under the age of 14, and one felony count of meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct. If convicted, Hong faces a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Hong is currently being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled for a continued arraignment on April 15, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.

At the time of the crime, Hong is accused of traveling from Vietnam and visiting Orange County and Atlanta, Georgia. Hong is a well-known Vietnamese entertainer with access to children. Continue reading→

Investigators seek additional victims of sexual assault suspect from Orange

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Orange, Villa Park 1 Comment

Investigators Seek Additional Victims of Sexual Assault Suspect

VILLA PARK, Calif. (March 18, 2016) – On Friday, March 18, 2016, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Special Victim’s Detail investigators arrested Jared Jonah Linares, 18, Orange, following allegations he sexually assaulted two female high school students at Villa Park High School. Linares is currently a student at Villa Park High School.

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, the Villa Park High School Resource Officer obtained information about the alleged sexual assaults. The Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Detail responded and assumed responsibility for the investigation. Based on information obtained during two days of investigation, investigators suspect Linares sexually assaulted two female high school students within the last year. Continue reading→

The SAPD identifies serial sexual battery suspect Carlos Olivares

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana Leave a comment

Santa Ana Police Department

Advisory: SAPD Detectives Identify Sexual Battery Suspect

On February 19, 2016, the Santa Ana Police Department released video of a subject wanted in connection with three sexual batteries. Each of the batteries involved a lone female walking during evening hours in Santa Ana. The male suspect engaged the women in conversation before assaulting them.

Based on tips from concerned community members who had seen the news broadcasts, Santa Ana Police Special Crimes Detectives were able to identify Carlos Olivares as the alleged perpetrator. Further corroboration was received on 3/8/16, when the Orange County Crime Lab reported DNA found on the clothing of one of the victims is consistent with that of Olivares. Continue reading→

Two serial rapists/murderers who targeted Santa Ana women facing the death penalty

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14ZF0337

Date: March 15, 2016

OCDA TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY AGAINST REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER FOR SPECIAL-CIRCUMSTANCES MURDER OF FOUR WOMEN AFTER KIDNAPPING AND RAPING THE VICTIMS

*Co-defendant also facing the death penalty

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauckas announced today that he will seek the death penalty against a registered sex offender for the special-circumstances murder of four women after kidnapping and raping the victims. Franc Cano, 29, Anaheim, was indicted by the grand jury on Oct. 2, 2014, and is charged with four felony counts of special circumstances murder and four felony counts of forcible rape. The special circumstance sentencing enhancements are for murder during the commission of rape, multiple murders, lying in wait, and kidnapping.

Prior to seeking the death penalty against Cano, a special circumstances committee consisting of the District Attorney, the Senior Assistant and Assistant District Attorney in charge of the Homicide Unit, and other prosecutors experienced in capital cases met and discussed the nature of the crime, the vulnerability of the victims, the defendant’s criminal record, and other factors. The committee also considered mitigating circumstances presented by the defense attorney. Continue reading→

Man convicted of sexually assaulting a Santa Ana 15-year-old girl for 10 years

Posted on by Posted in Crime, OCDA, Santa Ana 3 Comments

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14CF1692

Date: March 4, 2016

MAN CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FRIEND’S 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER FOR 10 YEARS

FULLERTON, Calif. – A man was convicted today of sexually assaulting a friend’s 15-year-old daughter for a decade. Isidro Medrano Garcia, 42, Bell Gardens, was found guilty by a jury today of three felony counts of lewd acts on a minor. Garcia faces a maximum sentence of fouryears and four months in state prison at his sentencing on April 15, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in Department N-11, North Justice Center, Fullerton.

The victim testified to the following in trial: Continue reading→