| For Immediate Release Case # 08NF1236 July 20, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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COUNSELOR SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS AND SIX MONTHS IN PRISON FOR MOLESTING THREE BOYS IN CHILDREN’S HOME
SANTA ANA – A counselor for a Fullerton children’s home was sentenced today to four years and six months in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for molesting three boys in his office while they used his phone to call their families living in other countries. Victor Salazar, 31, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury March 14, 2012, of four felony counts of lewd acts on a child between the ages of 14 and 15 and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.
At the time of the crime, Salazar worked as a counselor at Florence Crittenton Home on Harbor Boulevard in Fullerton. Florence Crittenden Home is a facility that houses children living in the United States without parents, either because the parents have been deported or the child came to the United States alone. The children are taken into protective custody by the government until they can be reunited with their family, placed in foster care, or they reach maturity.
Between May 25, 2007, and Feb. 5, 2008, Salazar molested three boys between the ages of 15 and 16 years old. In each case, the defendant was the assigned counselor for the victim. Each victim would go into Salazar’s office to make a personal telephone call to their family in South or Central America. While the victim was on the phone, the defendant sexually assaulted the boy by putting his hand down the victims’ pants and fondling the victims’ penis.
The sexual assaults were discovered in February 2008 after one of the 15-year-old victims reported that he had been molested by Salazar. The victims, some of whom lived at Florence Crittenton Home at different times, reported that they did not immediately come forward about the assault because the defendant was in a position of authority and they feared they could be deported or lose the privilege to call their families if they complained.
During the sentencing today, impact statements were read by the People on behalf of two victims. One victim explained that his life had forever changed because of the defendant. The second victim said he fled his country of origin due to violence and abuse and came to the United States for a better life. After being placed at Florence Crittenton Home, the only way he could speak to his family was on the phone in Salazar’s office. The victim said he now suffers nightmares and sees the defendant’s face on other people.
Salazar’s lifetime sex offender registration bars him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 13 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.