Senior Admits To Sex With Underage Female Relatives At His RivCo Home

CORONITA, CA — A Coronita senior who sexually assaulted two female relatives more than a decade ago pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of forcible lewd acts on a child.

Abimael Hernandez Saldana, 70, admitted the charges under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors agreed to drop two related felony counts against Saldana.

A sentencing hearing is set for March 8 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. He was arrested last May following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation that authorities said was prompted by one of Saldana's family members.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Brandon Mullins, in early April, deputies were contacted by law enforcement officials in Orange County, Florida, who had received information from a woman alleging she had been sexually abused by Saldana as a child.

"The victim stated she had been sexually assaulted multiple times ... while she slept," Mullins said.

According to the District Attorney's Office, along with the reporting party, another victim was identified. They were named only by their initials in court documents — "E.S." and "A.G." The latter was abused in December 1996, and E.S. was assaulted between October 2012 and October 2013, prosecutors said.

All of the acts occurred at Saldana's house in the 1900 block of Pine Crest Drive. The small unincorporated community of Coronita is largely encircled by the city of Corona.

Saldana has no documented prior felony convictions.