CORONA: San Jacinto man, 22, charged with 14 counts of sexually assaulting child under 10
CORONA — A 22-year-old, San Jacinto man, accused of 14 counts of sexually assaulting at least one young child, has been arrested and is being held on nearly $9.4 million bail. Citing their ongoing investigation, officials have released very few details, other than to confirm the alleged suspect’s Jan. 19 arrest.
The day after his arrest, Benny Albert Zavala was booked into Riverside County Jail on suspicion of five counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, five counts of sodomizing a child younger than 10-years-old and four counts of oral copulation with a child under 10.
Although officials would not disclose any additional information, Corona Police Sgt. Chad Fountain explained that more details would be released sometime next week.
An online jail record search revealed Zavala was arrested Friday at 12:38 p.m. on Lockwood Circle in Corona. He remains in custody and is being held at Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. A judge set his bail at $9.375 million and he is scheduled to be arraigned at Riverside Hall Of Justice, Jan. 23.
Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact Corona police detectives at (951) 736-2330. Callers can refer to incident file number 18-694 and can remain anonymous.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 grandchildren.
Sicko!
Its rather scary actually that this kid looks like a normal dude who has friends & works at Amazon yet could behind the cover of darkness do something like THIS. You just never truly know a person… Very scary thought.
Hope Karma is treating him as deserved in jail at this very moment!