Santa Ana Man Faces Charges Of Molesting 10 Boys
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) —An Orange County man accused of molesting more than 10 boys was being held Friday on $1 million bail.
Edwin Echeverria, of Santa Ana, was charged with 11 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 and other charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 275 years to life in state prison.
His arraignment Friday was postponed to Dec. 19.
Echeverria was arrested Tuesday in Costa Mesa at his job in the 3500 block of South Harbor, Santa Ana police officials said.
Detectives believe the 22-year-old began preying on boys in the summer of 2012 by selling them chips, soda and other items from his Warwick Square apartment, in the 700 block of South Lyon Street.
Over time, police say Echeverria took advantage of the rapport he had established to convince the children, as young as 10, to engage in sexual acts with him.
The molestations began in August 2012 and continued up to as recently as two weeks ago, Santa Ana police said.
Police were alerted after a parent found evidence their son might be involved in an inappropriate relationship with an unknown person, officials said.
"The number of victims involved in this case is extraordinary," Santa Ana police officials said in a statement. "Detectives are not aware of any other Santa Ana cases involving a single suspect targeting such a large number of victims within memory."
Because Echeverria had access to children, detectives believe there may be more victims. Parents of children who may have had inappropriate contact with Echeverria can call Santa Ana police Family Crimes detectives at (714) 245-8542 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
