Kids and Crime

A Desert Hot Springs man accused of possessing and disseminating child sex-abuse material on the internet pleaded not guilty to a felony charge. Pedro Alfredo Elizalde was charged with one felony count of possessing images depicting a minor under 12 years old in a sexual act, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to

Update 3/13/23 All charges were dropped against Ruben Rico Franco. Franco had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Banning Justice Center on March 13. But before his case could be assigned to a courtroom, prosecutors informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton that they wished to drop the criminal complaint and have

Update 3/13/23 All charges were dropped against Ruben Rico Franco. Franco had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Banning Justice Center on March 13. But before his case could be assigned to a courtroom, prosecutors informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton that they wished to drop the criminal complaint and have

A 19-year-old from Indio was behind bars today for his alleged involvement in posing as the seller of an Xbox gaming console and robbing someone at gunpoint. The teen was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of robbery, carrying a loaded firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of controlled substances with a firearm and possession

A Cathedral City man was ordered today to stand trial for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy and showing the boy pornographic videos.   David Hadley Pio, 63, was charged with four felony counts — two of committing a lewd act on a child under 14, and one each of committing three or more lewd acts on

A 48-year-old soccer coach suspected of sexually assaulting a teen girl pleaded not guilty to two felony charges today.    Rosario Navarro Gonzalez of Menifee was charged with two felony counts of a lewd act on a minor, according to court records.    He pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday morning at the Larson

A Palm Desert man who arranged over the internet to meet what he thought would be a 13-year-old girl for sex pleaded guilty today to a felony. Marino Aaron Lopez, 31, was originally charged with six felony counts — two of oral copulation with a person 10 to 14 years old, and one each of

A former Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl was convicted today of multiple felony charges. A Riverside jury deliberated four days before finding 43-year-old Luis Alfonso Martinez of La Quinta guilty of two counts each of lewd acts on a minor and oral copulation of a child under

An 88-year-old man has been charged in connection with a crash that killed a 9-year-old girl and injured three other kids walking home from a bus stop near Desert Hot Springs last year. Robert William Hanson faces multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, reckless driving, vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, and driving without

A murder charge was filed today against a Beaumont man accused of causing the death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, whose remains were found in an apartment with him and the woman after they had overdosed on drugs — the woman fatally. Tyler Lawrence Finley was arrested in December 2020 following a Beaumont Police Department

A jury was seated today in the trial of a former Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl. Luis Alfonso Martinez, 43, of La Quinta, is charged with two counts each of lewd acts on a minor and oral copulation of a child under 10 years old, as

Police are looking for a driver accused of striking an 11-year-old pedestrian and then fleeing the scene Tuesday afternoon in Indio. Police said the crash happened just before 2:00 p.m. at the intersection of Ave 46 and Clinton Street. The 11-year-old boy was hit while walking in a crosswalk. Police added that the boy was

The grandmother and aunt of a 5-year-old boy who died in Coachella re-entered not guilty pleas today to murder charges, and to abuse allegations involving other children. Hilaria Rangel, 55, and Miriam Silva, 39, were charged along with the boy’s mother, 37-year-old Vanessa Cervantes Rangel, with one felony count of murder in the boy’s death

A Coachella man has been charged with the murder of his children’s mother and grandmother during a custody exchange over the weekend in Moreno Valley. Salvador Velasquez, 39, was arrested on Saturday during the service of a search warrant at his home in Coachella. His arrest came a day after deputies found Esmeralda Casillas, 36,