| For Immediate Release Case # 12HF0218
January 24, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
SOCCER COACH CHARGED WITH COERCING 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL INTO SENDING PORNOGRAPHIC VIDEOS AFTER MEETING IN ONLINE VIDEO-CHAT ROOM
*Defendant is also charged with possessing almost 2,000 sexually explicit child pornography images
Please note: The defendant is a former recreational soccer coach with the Irvine Blades and ended his employment in February 2011. He may also have coached other children’s soccer teams.
SANTA ANA – A recreational soccer coach was charged today with coercing a 13-year-old girl into sending him sexually explicit child pornography videos of herself after meeting in an online chat room. The defendant is also charged with possessing almost 2,000 child pornography images and videos. Robert Vincent Peace, 45, Lake Forest, is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, six felony counts of lewd acts on a child, three felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit lewd acts on a child, two felony counts of using a minor for sex acts, and one felony count each of using a minor for distribution of obscene material and possession and control of child pornography with a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child.
If convicted on all counts, Peace faces a maximum sentence of 25 years and two months in state prison. The People will be requesting the defendant be held on $500,000 bail at his arraignment today, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
This case was investigated by federal and state investigators from the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force (OCCETF) including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), and Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD). The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute this case.
“Given the defendant’s alleged activities on the Internet and his involvement with girls’ recreational soccer, there’s a possibility there are other young victims we don’t know about,” said Joseph Macias, assistant special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Orange County. “While our investigation is ongoing, we want to remind parents to warn their children not to interact with strangers over the Internet. HSI will continue to aggressively target online child predators, but parents, because of their proximity, are the first line of defense.”
In 2009, Peace is accused of meeting 13-year-old Jane Doe from Endicott, NY, in an Internet video-chat room on Stickam.com. He is accused of exchanging messages with the victim and instructing her to send him sexually explicit videos of herself masturbating over a two year period.
After receiving the videos that he requested, Peace is accused of threatening Jane Doe that he would post the explicit videos on the Internet if she did not continue to send him new pornographic images. Without the victim’s knowledge, the defendant is accused of posting some of the child pornography videos featuring Jane Doe online.