Former O.C. basketball coach faces 150 years to life for sexually abusing 4 players
A former Orange County basketball coach is facing a maximum sentence of 150 years to life in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting four young girls he coached, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old.
Carlos Francisco Juarez, 48, of Costa Mesa was found guilty of 10 felony counts of committing a lewd act upon a child under 14, seven felony counts of lewd acts upon a child, two counts sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor and one count of oral copulation on a minor under 16 by a jury verdict on July 18, court records indicate.
The charges stemmed from multiple incidents that occurred between 2005 and 2008, according to court records, although charges were not filed until April 2019, after four people came forward with reports of the abuse.
Juarez was arrested outside his home in Costa Mesa on April 11 of that year by Irvine police who alleged he “groomed the victims from a young age, with the incidents beginning years after his first contact with them.”
A coach primarily for club teams, including the O.C. Mustangs Basketball Club, Juarez also worked for Costa Mesa, Mater Dei, Tustin and Aliso Niguel high schools and offered private one-on-one lessons. He is believed to have coached each of the four victims at some point between 2005 and 2010, according to a release issued by county prosecutors following his conviction.
A Costa Mesa man who is a former Orange County basketball coach is facing felony charges of lewd and sexual acts with minors, court records show.
In one incident, an 11-year-old girl who took private lessons from him at a gym in Tustin, claimed he had her practice topless, after unsuccessfully attempting to have her remove all her clothes, the release stated. Later, after sexually assaulting the girl, Juarez reportedly gave her an envelope containing an unspecified amount of cash.
The former coach was also convicted of assaulting three more players — a 13-year-old girl whose home he moved into and who he abused over a four-year period, a 14-year-old he coached in private lessons in 2008 and a 13-year-old he forced to perform a sex act in exchange for the promise of making her a starting player, prosecutors reported.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement coaches are entrusted to help student athletes be the best in their respective sports, not to groom or exploit young people.
“These young women will forever bear the trauma of being sexually assaulted by someone they should have been able to trust,” he said. “He robbed these young girls of their innocence, and he victimized girl after girl until he finally got caught.”
Although Juarez was initially due to appear before a judge for sentencing Wednesday, the hearing was continued to Sept. 6.
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