Lawyer, employee charged with stalking, ID theft

October 02, 2010|From KTLA-5

IRVINE — An Irvine lawyer accused of impersonating his neighbors and creating fake Web pages advertising sexual services from their home is slated to appear in court Oct. 18.

Franklin Casco Jr., 49, pleaded not guilty this summer to 10 felonies, including one count each of conspiracy and stalking and four counts of identity theft.

Larry Lorenzo Cardenas Jr., 31, who works at Casco's firm, pleaded not guilty to the same charges.

According to a criminal complaint, the pair committed "harassment by electronic communication,'' and used sites like, Myspace.com and Geocities.com last year and invited strangers to come to their neighbors' home for sexual services.

Casco's defense attorney said last week that his client is innocent, and that investigators do not have evidence that links him to the crime. The neighbors — a husband and wife known in court documents as John and Jane Doe — are suing Casco and Cardenas for unspecified damages in Orange County Superior Court.

Prosecutors say the couple were tipped off by a phone call from a man who said he had an "appointment" with Jane Doe and referred to an account on MySpace.

The phone call prompted the couple to go online and find a website that portrayed Jane Doe as a swinger and porn star who was available for sexual services.

The couple called police, and upon further investigation, at least 14 erotic Web pages and advertisements were found, according to the complaint.

The false postings resulted in numerous calls and e-mails from men who wanted to set up an "appointment" and have sex with "Jane Doe."

The family has since moved out of the neighborhood.

Casco and Cardenas are out of custody on their recognizance.

A hearing on the civil lawsuit is scheduled for November.

— From KTLA-5

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