A jury in 2008 convicted former Saddleback Valley Unified School District childcare worker Scott A. Christensen
of molesting a 6-year-old boy. However, the panel deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting Christensen of molesting a second boy, also 6.
Trial is scheduled to begin this morning on the allegations that resulted in a deadlock and a new case involving a third boy victim under the age of 14.
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Christensen met the 6-year-olds
through Saddleback Unified's Learning Connection after-school program at
Melinda Heights Elementary in Rancho Santa Margarita, where the 28-year-old lived, working as a child-care leader for six years.
The jury agreed unanimously that Christensen molested one boy at the home of the 6-year-old's parents who had hired the district employee to babysit in 2006. The deadlock involved allegations he molested the second boy at the school the year before.
Prosecutors say the third boy was victimized from 2000-2004.
Christensen, who is reportedly in custody at Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, faces up to 10 years in prison for the guilty verdict on two felony counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts. Conviction on a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims could translate to 15
years to life on each count.
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.