LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A youth soccer coach and alleged sexual predator has been charged in connection with the disappearance and death of a child whose body was found in Ventura County.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, on March 28, 13-year-old Oscar “Omar” Hernandez boarded a train to Lancaster but wasn’t heard from again, and his family reported him missing. The boy was traveling to visit 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino and help the soccer coach at a complex, WABC-TV reports.
Several days later, investigators reportedly found Hernandez’s body on the side of a road in Oxnard.
The district attorney’s office announced April 7 that they charged Garcia-Aquino with one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child.
In an amended complaint on April 8, the district attorney’s office said Garcia-Aquino has also been charged with one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 years old after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager in Sylmar on Dec. 10, 2022.
If convicted, Garcia-Aquino faces a possible maximum sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to prosecutors, additionally, Garcia-Aquino has been charged with one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense after allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy in Palmdale on Feb. 22, 2024. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of six years in that case.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said, “No parent should ever have to endure the unimaginable pain and sorrow of learning their child has been murdered. Oscar simply boarded a train and little did he or his family know that he would never return. Sexual predators who target victims for their own gratification will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
- Teen’s body was found in Ventura County after he was reported missing – Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
- Soccer coach charged with murder in death of 13-year-old LA boy – WABC
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