| For Immediate Release Case # 12CF0738 March 13, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING
13-YEAR-OLD BOY IN LIBRARY BATHROOM AND
18-YEAR-OLD MALE IN AIRPORT BATHROOM
SANTA ANA – A man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in a library bathroom and an 18-year-old male in an airport bathroom. Robert Howard Claudio, 23, Anaheim Hills, is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, one felony count of false imprisonment by violence, one felony count of sexual battery by restraint, and one misdemeanor count of battery, with a sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison. Claudio is being held on $2 million bail and is expected to be arraigned today, Tuesday, March 13, 2012, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
On Aug. 27, 2011, Claudio is accused of approaching 18-year-old John Doe #2 in a terminal at John Wayne Airport. He is accused of speaking with the victim before assaulting him by grabbing John Doe #2’s penis over his clothing.
When John Doe #2 went into an airport bathroom, Claudio is accused of following him inside. The defendant is accused of climbing under a restroom stall and cornering the victim inside. John Doe #2 repeatedly tried to escape and told the defendant to leave. Claudio is accused of attempting to pull the victim’s underwear down, grabbing him, and asking the victim to engage in oral copulation and anal penetration. After several minutes, John Doe #2 was able to escape and immediately reported the assault. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated this case. The defendant was identified, but a case was not filed due to a lack of corroboration at that time.
On the afternoon of March 9, 2012, Claudio is accused of approaching 13-year-old John Doe #1 at the public library in Tustin while the victim was waiting for his mother to pick him up. The defendant is accused of luring John Doe #1 into a library bathroom and molesting the victim by engaging in substantial sexual conduct.
John Doe #1 told the defendant to stop and escaped from the bathroom. He ran to the Tustin Police Department (TPD) around the corner and immediately reported the sexual assault. The defendant was arrested near the scene.
Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact TPD Detective Pam Hardacre at (714) 573-3248 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Lou Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.
If convicted, Claudio will be required to register as a lifetime sex offender and will be barred from entering County recreational areas and City parks that 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 11 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jana Hoffmann of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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