Temecula Man Who Molested Lake Elsinore Girls Gets 35 Years In Prison

SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A 52-year-old man who molested two Lake Elsinore girls was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in state prison.

In July, Victor Saragosa Morones of Temecula admitted eight counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, as well as a sentence-enhancing allegation of targeting multiple victims in a sex crime, as part of a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped eight related offenses against Morones.

During a hearing Friday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson certified the terms of the plea bargain and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Reese, deputies initiated an investigation in November 2022 after receiving information that Morones had engaged in illicit acts involving one of the girls, identified in court documents only as "A.A."

Court papers indicated that in the ensuing investigation, another girl, "E.M.," was also determined to have been molested by the defendant.

The assaults occurred between January 2019 and December 2021, according to the criminal complaint.

The circumstances behind the assaults, including Morones' relationship, if any, to the children were not disclosed.

Sufficient evidence was gathered to obtain an arrest warrant, and Morones was taken into custody without incident in the 28000 block of Old Town Front Street in Temecula on the morning of Feb. 9.

He had no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.