Southland teacher accused of traveling overseas for underage sex
A former Orange County teacher has been arrested on suspicion of having traveled to the Philippines to have sex with a 14-year-old girl and videotaping the encounter.
The United States Attorney’s Office said Monday that 63-year-old Robert Ruben Ornelas is charged with engaging in sexual conduct in a foreign place, producing child pornography and possessing child pornography. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 80 years in federal prison.
He was taken into custody Friday and ordered held without bond.
The federal indictment says that after the trip to the Philippines in March 2012, Ornelas brought video images of the sexual encounter back to the United States.
Authorities say Ornelas worked as a teacher in the Santa Ana Unified School District from 1992 to 2003, and coached a local girls’ softball team.