SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 53-year-old Los Angeles man was charged March 30 with assaulting three children in Irvine on separate occasions.
Christopher Eduard was charged with two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14, and single counts of forcible lewd act on a child, contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, and possession or control of child pornography—all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of sexual exploitation of a child, using a minor in the sale or distribution of child pornography, and indecent exposure.
Eduard pleaded not guilty Thursday at his arraignment and a pretrial hearing was set for April 10. He was ordered held without bail.
Eduard is accused of groping an 11-year-old girl May 24, 2021, at a Target department store at 13200 Jamboree Road, Irvine police said.
He is also accused of attacking a 9-year-old girl at a library in Irvine at 14361 Yale Avenue on March 21, police said. While the girl was in the children’s section he convinced her to help him film a video, handing her a cell phone while he held up cue cards for her to read aloud before he exposed himself and assaulted her, police alleged.
Eduard was arrested near his home in Los Angeles on March 24, but he bailed out. Police arrested him again Tuesday for the other cases.
According to the criminal complaint, there was a third victim for an alleged attack on March 1, 2021, but details of that were not immediately available.
Below is a security camera footage of the suspect.
