Firefighter, former San Jacinto coach, charged with possessing child porn, lewd acts on a child

UPDATED: Sunday, July 26, 1 p.m., With additional details from Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Originally published July 5, 2020, 5:30 p.m.

Authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying additional potential victims after reports of a man inappropriately touching a young girl on southern California’s Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach led to the arrest of a U.S. Forest Service firefighter July 1.

Officials say the suspect, since identified as Jacob Daniel Carothers, 38, of San Jacinto, was found to be in possession of a “significant amount of pornographic photos and videos depicting children,” when he was arrested.

Officials have reported that Carothers interacted with children as a volunteer at a school in the Hemet Unified School District and as a former coach at the Valley-Wide Sport Center in San Jacinto.

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Carothers, who has worked as a federal firefighter for the last 16 years and was most recently assigned to the Cleveland National Forest, has been charged with one felony count of possession of child pornography and two felony counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, according to Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Kimberly Edds.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and eight months in state prison if convicted on all charges.

Carothers was arrested by Newport Beach Police detectives July 1, after officials were notified about two alleged lewd acts upon a 12-year-old girl on May 29.

Newport police detectives say Jacob Carothers, of San Jacinto, was found to be in possession of a “significant amount of pornographic photos and videos depicting children,” when he was arrested. O.C. District Attorney’s Office photo

The investigation began when a mother called Newport Beach Police Department to report that her young daughter had been inappropriately grabbed by a man riding by on a bicycle two separate times.

Both alleged incidents happened while the victim and two friends were walking in swimwear on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach.

“The man, later identified as Carothers, fled the scene on his bike was found by police in an alley nearby,” explained Edds. “The investigation revealed a significant amount of pornographic photos and videos depicting children in Carothers’ possession.”

Carothers was subsequently arrested by Newport Beach detectives on a warrant on July 1, and remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail or bond, according to Edds.

“We rely on firefighters to come to our aid when our homes are on fire and our lives are at risk. We hand firefighters choking babies and expect them to breathe life back into them. We count on them to keep our homes from burning to the ground and prevent lifetimes of memories from being reduced to ash,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has since said of Carothers’ arrest.

“Unfortunately, not everyone who takes the oath to become a firefighter is worthy of having the public’s trust,” Spitzer continued; saying, “Children enjoying a summer day at the beach with their friends should not have to worry about being assaulted by a predator, especially one who took an oath to safeguard lives.”

Authorities are now asking for the public’s help identifying additional potential victims, and anyone who believes they were victimized by Carothers or knows someone who possibly was is encouraged to immediately contact Newport Beach Police Detective Kelley Maslin at (949) 644-3776.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta 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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 16 grandchildren.