For Immediate Release Case #08HF2452
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Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
INTRAMURAL COACH SENTENCED TO 51 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MOLESTING THREE BOYS, AGES 11 TO 13, AND POSSESSING THOUSANDS OF IMAGES OF GRAPHIC CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
SANTA ANA – An intramural sports coach was sentenced today to 51 years to life in state prison for molesting three boys, ages 11 to 13, after befriending their families and spending time alone with the victims, and for being in possession of over 2,000 explicit pornographic images and videos of children. Cameron Joseph Baca, 29, San Clemente, was found guilty by a jury Aug. 5, 2010, of nine felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, four felony counts of distribution of pornography to a minor, one felony count of attempted lewd acts on a child under 14, and one felony count of possession of child pornography.
Between Jan. 2, 2006, and Dec. 18, 2008, Baca molested three boys between the ages of 11 and 13 years old. The defendant met the victims while working as their intramural sports coach for football, lacrosse, and basketball in South Orange County. Baca befriended the families of the victims and groomed the boys by spending time with them, attending their sporting events that he was not coaching, buying them baseball cards, and inviting them to his home for meals and to do various work around the house.
Baca sexually assaulted the three victims including touching their penises and buttocks and engaging in oral copulation. The defendant also showed the victims pornography.
In December 2008, John Doe #1 disclosed the sexual assault against him to his family. Investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department revealed that Baca also had two additional victims. In a subsequent search of Baca’s home, the defendant was found to be in possession of over 2,000 pornographic images of young children being raped and sodomized. He was also in possession on his computer of over 500 child pornography videos and more than 50 written stories describing adult men, including coaches and babysitters, having sex with young boys.
A mother of one of the victims submitted a victim impact statement to be read at Baca’s sentencing today. She wrote, “I trusted you! I loved you like my own children. But you sir are incapable of knowing what love truly is. Instead you were a predator and we were your prey.”
Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
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