Overview
- Roberto Machuca, 32, turned himself in Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to five felony counts related to an alleged sexual relationship with a 16-year-old Explorer program participant.
- The charges include three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, and one count of oral copulation.
- An Orange County judge set bail at $100,000, ordered Machuca to surrender his firearms and passport, and scheduled a pretrial hearing for August 4.
- Garden Grove police were alerted to the inappropriate relationship on June 26 and placed Machuca on leave before he was arrested when he reported for duty the next day; he is no longer employed by the department.
- Prosecutors say the case shows an abuse of the advisor-mentee relationship in the Explorer Program, which serves youth ages 14 to 21, and they have assigned a Homicide Unit deputy to prosecute, raising questions about program oversight and youth safeguards.