Sex Offender Molested Temecula Boy While Doing Magic Tricks: DA

TEMECULA, CA — A convicted sex offender who molested a 7-year-old Temecula boy while showing him magic tricks was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in state prison.

William Arthur Hammond, 71, of Menifee pleaded guilty in November to two counts of lewd acts on a child under 10 years old, along with a sentence- enhancing allegation of failing to disclose his sex registrant status, under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

In exchange for Hammond's admissions, prosecutors dropped a related lewd acts count.

Superior Court Judge Mark Mandio certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.

According to sheriff's investigators, the child, whose identity was not disclosed, was fondled by Hammond on the afternoon of Feb. 17, 2018, while the boy was at a relative's house in the 44200 block of Cabo Street in Temecula.

According to a bail-setting affidavit filed by sheriff's detectives, the incident occurred when the defendant volunteered to entertain the boy and two siblings. Hammond, who was visiting the house, played the piano for the children and then showed them magic tricks, focusing his attention on the victim, investigators said.

According to court records, he was convicted in 1983 of sexually abusing a 7-year-old boy in Oceanside and one of the terms of his parole was to register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290. The law prohibits an offender from having contact with minors, other than relatives.

— By City News Service / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department