Just one case in this week's roundup …
Joshua Christopher Owens, a 23-year-old seasonal lifeguard and former high school coach in La Palma, has been arrested on suspicion of performing lewd and lascivious acts on girls ages 14-16.
Allegations of unlawful sex acts to a student were reported to a staff member at Kennedy High School, whose officials contacted the Buena Park Police Department on Nov. 16.
An investigation determined Owens met his student-athlete victims while serving as an assistant swim and water polo coach at Kennedy High during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years, says police Sgt. Mike Lovchik, who adds the alleged crimes may have happened from 2014 through this year.
Owens, who resides in La Palma, was arrested Nov. 21 on various felony and misdemeanor offenses and released from the Buena Park Police Department after posting $75,000 bail, Lovchik says.
Because of Owens' positions at the high school, as well as being employed over the past year as a seasonal lifeguard with the Long Beach Fire Department Marine Safety Division, has investigators fearing there may be other victims.
Here is a shot of the accused:
Anyone with information that can help the investigation or identify other victims is asked to contact Buena Park Police Detective Todd Franssen at 714.562.3963.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.