Deepa Bharath
In the next few weeks, three Santa Ana courtrooms are set to be
inundated with trials relating to sex crimes against children.
Two of the high-profile cases are from Newport Beach, while the
other is out of Costa Mesa.
Newport Beach sex crime detectives worked on two back-to-back
cases last year. The first one came in April when Trenton Veches, a
city recreation coordinator who supervised several after-school
programs, was arrested on suspicion of sucking several boys' toes.
Investigators sifted through hundreds of digital images in his home
computer and found several photos of young boys who reportedly
participated in the city's recreational programs
The 32-year-old Huntington Beach resident now faces 28 felony
counts of lewd contact with minors and one misdemeanor count of
possessing child pornography. Veches has pleaded not guilty to all
charges and quit his job after his arrest.
He is being held on a $500,000 bail. His trial is scheduled to
begin today.
Less than five months after Veches was arrested, Newport Beach
Police arrested Todd Haluch, a 35-year-old substitute teacher,
accusing him of sexually assaulting female students, at least one
from a Newport Beach high school. He faces 17 felony counts of sexual
assault and one count of witness intimidation.
He was first arrested Sept. 13 after a therapist who treated one
of the victims told police about it. Haluch posted the $250,000 bail
the same day. A second warrant on four fresh charges led to another
arrest Sept. 30. Haluch is now in Orange County Jail. He has pleaded
not guilty to all charges and his trial has been scheduled for April
28.
Costa Mesa Police are dealing with a complicated case involving
41-year-old Cary Smith, accused of molesting a boy about six years
ago. Smith was admitted to Patton State Hospital in 1999 after his
wife found a letter written by him that described in lurid detail
sexual acts that he wanted to perform on a 7-year-old Costa Mesa boy.
Now, he has been charged with 22 counts of child molestation.
Prosecutors say the victim, a Costa Mesa boy, was younger than 14
years old in 1997, when the alleged crimes happened, and came forward
with the complaint several years later. That is very common in child
molestation cases, Costa Mesa Police Detective Sgt. Jack Archer said.
"Often, victims are young and they don't find the courage to come
forward until they're older," he said. "Usually, when they get
victimized, they are intimidated and embarrassed."
