CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise
11:32 PM PST on Tuesday, March 29, 2005
By MARY BENDER / The Press-Enterprise
A jury on Tuesday convicted a former youth pastor and onetime volunteer Corona Centennial High School football coach of 15 felony counts involving sexual abuse of two teenage girls.
The six-man, six-woman jury found Joseph Mario Arredondo Jr., 29, guilty of having sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation and penetration with a foreign object. The girls, 15 and 17 years old at the time, were students at Corona High School and members of Norco-based New Beginnings Christian Church, according to Deputy District Attorney Blaine Hopp.
"He took advantage of a position of trust and a position of authority and exploited it. Both of the girls had been counseled by him," Hopp said.
The trial before Riverside Superior Court Judge Russell Schooling began March 14. The jury reached a verdict on Monday, but it was sealed until Tuesday, when all parties were available to return to court, Hopp said. Arredondo will be sentenced June 10 and faces up to 13 years in prison.
"My client is innocent. The jury made a mistake," defense attorney Alexander Petale said Tuesday evening by telephone.