Charges Filed Against Temecula Man Accused Of Lewd Acts With Girls

SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A 51-year-old man accused of molesting two Lake Elsinore girls was charged Tuesday with lewd acts on a child and other offenses.

Victor Saragusa Morones of Temecula was arrested Thursday following a roughly two-month-long investigation led by deputies from the Lake Elsinore Sheriff's Station.

Along with four counts of lewd acts on a minor under 14 years old, Morones is charged with multiple sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting two or more victims in a sex crime.

The defendant, who is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, was slated to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon at the nearby Southwest Justice Center.

Prosecutors are expected to ask the judge to increase his bail to $4 million.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Reese, deputies initiated an investigation in November after receiving information that Morones had allegedly 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 identified as an alleged victim.

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

Sufficient evidence was ultimately gathered to justify an arrest warrant for Morones, who was taken into custody by Lake Elsinore sheriff's deputies without incident in the 28000 block of Old Town Front Street in Temecula on Thursday morning, Reese said.

Lake Elsinore Sheriff's Station deputies cover the cities of Lake Elsinore and Wildomar, as well as surrounding unincorporated areas. Jail records for Morones list the arresting agency as Wildomar.

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

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