Santa Ana Youth Sports Coach Convicted of Multiple Felonies for Molesting Child Athlete,Sexually Assaulting 22-year-old Employee at STARS Prep Academy
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Santa Ana youth sports coach was convicted by a jury today of multiple felonies for molesting an underage girl he trained at STARS Prep Academy in Santa Ana and sexually assaulting a 22-year-old employee at the sports training facility. Two more underage girls also took the stand to testify about the coach’s sexual misconduct.
Christopher Flores, 39, has been charged with four felony counts of lewd acts upon a child aged 14 or 15 and two felony counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a victim under the age of 16, and one felony count of sexual penetration with a foreign object by force. He faces a maximum sentence of twelve years in state prison if convicted.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 4, 2024 in Department C39 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Flores is accused of molesting a 15-year-old athlete at STARS from January 2021 through December 2021 and sexually assaulting a 22-year-old sports facility employee in January 2022.
“These athletes went there to train in an effort to excel at their sport, not to be victimized by a pedophile,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “What happened is horrifying and the youth sports community as a whole has been victimized by the actions of a grown man who not only abused his victims but abused that position of trust in the most twisted way. As we watch elite athletes from across the world compete in the Olympics, this is a powerful reminder of how vulnerable young female athletes are and how important vigorous investigations and prosecutions can protect additional children from being victimized and bring these abusers to justice.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah Rahman of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
