Cathedral City man accused of molesting two boys to stand trial
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 child under 13 and possessing matter depicting a minor in a sexual act, according to court records.
Following a preliminary hearing Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Court Judge Edward Forstenzer ruled that enough evidence was presented for Pio to proceed to trial.
A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for Jan. 9, 2023.
According to a declaration in support of a search warrant written by Cathedral City police Officer Kelly Nava, a sister of one of Pio's friends let her sons live with him at different times during 2010 for financial reasons and so they could have a father figure.
The woman said one of her sons confided that Pio had allegedly been touching him inappropriately since he was 13, according to Nava. Pio allegedly took showers with the boy, masturbated himself and the boy and made the teen touch his privates.
"He would tell (the boy) that he was handsome and that he loved him," the declaration states.
The boy said there were "so many incidents of touching he couldn't give it a number," Nava wrote. "He said it occurred 'almost every day.'"
Pio allegedly showed the boy pornographic videos on two occasions, and the teen walked in on Pio watching pornography "numerous" times, according to Nava, who wrote that the videos involved children as young as 8.
Detectives served a search warrant at Pio's home in July 2012 and found pornographic images and videos involving minors on computers and media storage, according to police. Pio was arrested that month.
Pio was arrested on July 17, 2012 by the Cathedral City Police Department, according to inmate records. He remains held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on $1 million bail.
In 1994, Pio was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct, penetration with a foreign object and forced sodomy on a person under 14, but the case was later dismissed, according to Nava's declaration.
According to our reports from 2012, police said Pio reportedly worked as a local youth-sports volunteer.
