POMONA — A Hacienda Heights man faces up to 60 years in state prison next month when he returns to court for sentencing after being convicted Wednesday of molesting four underage female relatives over an eight-year period, authorities said.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury in Pomona deliberated for about two hours before finding Juan Hernandez, 51, guilty of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child and four counts of committing a lewd act on a child, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials said in a written statement.
He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing June 26, when he could received a maximum sentence of six decades behind bars, officials said.
“The prosecutor said Hernandez sexually molested four underage family members at various times between March 1999 and July 2007,” according to the district attorney’s office statement.
“Authorities were notified about the sexual abuse and the defendant was arrested Sept. 26, 2013 and held on $4 million bail,” the statement added.
The investigation was carried out by detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau.
In addition to being held without bail pending sentencing, Hernandez was also had a hold placed on him by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to county booking records.