Kids and Crime

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A Cabazon man was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a child, the Banning Police Department announced this week. Andrew Chavez, 32, was arrested on April 8 at the Las Encinas Mental Hospital in Del Mar, according to jail records. He has been charged with 8 counts of child sex abuse.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – A teacher at a private school in Rancho Mirage charged with raping a teenager pleaded not guilty on Friday. Stephen Spurlock, 43, a now former 3rd grade teacher at Palm Valley School, is charged with 21 felonies, including 19 counts of rape. He is set to return to court on

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – A Palm Desert man was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography after separate incidents in the bathroom of a local restaurant, authorities announced. Joseph Seiders, 44, of Palm Desert, was arrested on April 9 at the Chick-fil-A on Dinah Shore Drive in Palm Desert, according to county jail records.

MECCA, Calif. (KESQ) – A 17-year-old girl was pronounced dead after a shooting early Wednesday morning in Mecca. The shooting was first reported at around 1:00 a.m. at the Mecca II Apartments on the 91800 block of 66th Avenue. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a report of an assault with

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – On Tuesday, March 25, a jury recommended the death penalty for Adam Slater, a Palm Desert man convicted of killing his one-year-old daughter and stabbing his pregnant wife during a child custody exchange in Indian Wells. Slater is due back in court on May 30 for sentencing. Celeste Fiehler, a family

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher accused of inappropriately touching a student pleaded not guilty today to lewd acts on a minor and other offenses.   Mario Manuel Valenzuela, 42, of Coachella was arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.    Along with the lewd acts count, Valenzuela

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) –  Jury deliberations got underway today in the penalty phase of trial for a convicted felon who killed his year-old daughter and stabbed his pregnant wife during a child custody exchange in Indian Wells.    Adam Slater, 53, of Palm Desert killed baby Madalyn in 2020 during an act of rage that

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – A 15-year-old boy remained in custody today after allegedly running multiple red lights on a mini motorcycle and being found with an illegally possessed firearm in Palm Springs.    A member of the Palm Springs Police Department observed the teenager on the motorcycle at approximately 8 p.m. Friday, according to

Authorities are searching for a man who attacked a 14-year-old boy who was walking home from school Thursday afternoon in Twentynine Palms. The attack was reported at around 2:20 p.m. near Sunnyslope Drive and La Buena Tierra Avenue. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the teen was walking when he was approached by

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A felon who killed his year-old daughter and stabbed his pregnant wife after turning irate during a child custody exchange in Indian Wells was found guilty of murder and other charges today. Adam Slater, 53, of Palm Desert, killed baby Madalyn in 2020 during an act of rage that included a

BEAUMONT, Calif. (KESQ) – Costa Mesa police reached out to the public today to identify possible additional victims of a man arrested in Beaumont who is suspected of committing lewd acts with a pair of teenage girls. Peter Michael Mejia, 27, of Redlands, was arrested Monday, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department. He has

A minor was hospitalized after being stabbed with a screwdriver in Mecca Wednesday afternoon. The stabbing was first reported at around 1:30 p.m. in the area of 2nd Street and Date Street. “When deputies arrived, they learned a juvenile was assaulted by two other juveniles with a screwdriver,” writes Sergeant Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez, public information officer