| For Immediate Release Case # 11HF1297 October 4, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CONVICTED OF MASTURBATING IN FRONT OF TWO TEENAGE GIRLS IN A PUBLIC LIBRARY
FULLERTON – A registered sex offender was convicted today for masturbating in front of two teenage girls in a public library. Robert Bruce Engel, 68, Mission Viejo, was found guilty in a court trial today, Oct. 4, 2012, before the Honorable Craig Griffin of one felony count of indecent exposure with prior convictions for indecent exposure in 1999 and 2002. Engel faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison at his sentencing, Nov 15, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department N-17, North Justice Center, Fullerton.
At approximately 7:00 p.m. on May 9, 2011, Engel went to the Rancho Santa Margarita Public Library and sat at a table inside across from two teenage girls. He put a newspaper across his lap, unzipped his pants, placed his hand under the newspaper, and began masturbating.
The victims reported Engel to the librarian, but the defendant left the library before police arrived.
On the evening of May 16, 2011, Engel returned to the same library. The librarian recognized him and contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated this case. Engel was arrested at the library.
Engel’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 14 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, 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 Bobby Taghavi of the Felony Panel is prosecuting this case.
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