Kids and Crime

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) – A 42-year-old teacher with the Coachella Valley Unified School District was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a student. Mario Manuel Valenzuela of Coachella was arrested on Friday on charges of lewd acts on a child. The investigation into Valenzuela’s arrest started in December when the student told school administrators that

A young woman accused of stabbing a boy during a domestic confrontation in Banning, inflicting life-threatening wounds, was charged today with attempted murder and other offenses. Eirianna Mariah Zaragoza, 18, of Banning, was arrested Sunday following a Banning Police Department investigation. Along with attempted murder, Zaragoza is charged with domestic violence and assault with a

BANNING, Calif (KESQ) – A minor is recovering after being stabbed multiple times in what police called a “home-invasion style attack” Sunday morning in Banning. The attack was reported just before 5:30 a.m. Banning police said detecives determined that the person who originally called the police had been in a domestic dispute with minor and

A 51-year-old felon who preyed on two Moreno Valley schoolgirls and tried to abduct one of them pleaded guilty today to attempted kidnapping and was immediately sentenced to 18 months in state prison. Rene Rodriguez Ramirez of Indio admitted the felony count under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange

Jury selection is expected to wrap up next week for the trial of a gang member accused of joining a teenage cohort in attempting to gun down a rival in a Cathedral City park — but wounding a young mother and a boy playing soccer instead. Ivan Raya Reynoso, 22, of Cathedral City is charged

A 36-year-old Thermal man who repeatedly sexually molested a young girl over a period of years was convicted today of nearly a dozen felony charges.    A Riverside jury deliberated just over a day before finding Alfonso Gonzalez Meraz guilty of four counts each of forcible lewd acts on a child and sexual assault of

A Thermal man convicted of multiple charges after molesting a young girl several times and then trying to intimidate her and her mother into changing their stories to spare him from prosecution was sentenced to 10 years in prison today. Elit Barroso Miranda, 41, was previously found guilty of two counts of lewd acts on

A trial date was set today for a Coachella man accused of trying to kidnap a then-15-year-old girl in Thermal more than two years ago. Christian Daniel Arreola, 21, was charged with three felony counts — one each of assault with intent to commit mayhem, sexual battery, and attempted kidnapping, robbery and/or rape, according to

A student was briefly hospitalized and another was taken into custody after a fight at Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School in La Quinta on Tuesday. The incident was first reported around noon. Deputies were informed of a physical altercation that had occurred between two minors at the school, located on the 43000 block of Palm

A 20-year-old Banning man accused of sexually assaulting a young boy and distributing videos of the acts online possibly targeted other children, prompting authorities today to ask anyone with information to come forward.    John Edward Lario was arrested and charged last month following an investigation by the multi-agency Riverside County Child Exploitation Team, or

A Nov. 12 trial date was confirmed today for a 39-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a Banning girl.    Jesus Virgen Rubio of Adelanto was arrested in April 2022 following a Banning Police Department investigation.    Rubio is charged with two counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, as well

A 20-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a young boy and distributing videos of the acts online pleaded not guilty today to more than a half-dozen felony charges. John Edward Lario of Banning was arrested earlier this month following an investigation by the multi-agency Riverside County Child Exploitation Team, or RCCET. Lario is charged with