Prosecutors Add Charges Against L.a. Soccer Coach Accused Of Raping And Killing Teen - Beritaja

A San Fernando Valley shot coach charged pinch sexually assaulting and sidesplitting 1 of his teenage players past twelvemonth will look 9 further counts of activity maltreatment against a minor, authorities said Tuesday.

Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, is now charged pinch 8 counts of sodomy pinch a insignificant nether the property of 16 and 1 count of oral copulation pinch a minor, according to Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson.

Garcia-Aquino pleaded not blameworthy to the caller charges. Representatives for the Los Angeles County nationalist defender’s office, which is representing the shot coach, did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The alleged maltreatment occurred betwixt September 2022 and July 2023, Thompson said during a little proceeding successful a downtown L.A. courtroom. Thompson told the tribunal that prosecutors had uncovered “additional evidence” of maltreatment by Garcia-Aquino, but declined to connection details. The unfortunate was besides a subordinate that Garcia-Aquino had coached, Thompson said.

Garcia-Aquino, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador, was charged past twelvemonth pinch sidesplitting 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez during the committee of a lewd enactment astatine his Lancaster location successful March. The boy, known arsenic Omar, played for the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club successful the Sylmar area that Garcia-Aquino coached.

Omar was past seen walking to the Antelope Valley to thief Garcia-Aquino make shot jerseys, authorities said. His assemblage was recovered successful a ditch successful Ventura County successful early April.

Prosecutors person charged Garcia-Aquino pinch sidesplitting Omar aft sexually assaulting him. The teen died of intoxicant poisoning, according to coroner’s agency records.

The territory attorney’s agency faced scrutiny past twelvemonth for its handling of a anterior investigation into the coach. A Times investigation revealed the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department asked prosecutors to complaint Garcia-Aquino pinch sexually assaulting 1 of his players about a twelvemonth earlier Omar was killed.

Prosecutors didn’t activity a warrant to apprehension Garcia-Aquino successful that lawsuit until about a week earlier Omar’s death. Thompson said the unfortunate successful each 9 counts charged Tuesday was the aforesaid unfortunate whose rape allegations the Sheriff’s Department had investigated.

The Times recovered the lawsuit had languished successful a backlog of much than 10,000 cases that Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman inherited from his predecessor, George Gascón. Hochman ordered prosecutors to velocity up reviews of cases involving allegations of intersexual maltreatment aliases family unit soon aft The Times article was published.

Garcia-Aquino is owed backmost successful tribunal successful precocious March. He has besides been accused of sexually assaulting a 3rd insignificant who played connected his squad successful Sylmar successful 2022. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated that case.

Both victims are expected to attest against Garcia-Aquino astatine a preliminary proceeding later this year, Thompson said successful court.