A 48-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 45 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting three girls he lived with in Lake Forest and Laguna Hills.
Just as his trial was about to start in January, Ruben Roman pleaded guilty to 15 felony child sexual assault charges. Roman has credit for 1,259 days in custody, nearly 3 1/2 years.
Roman dated the mother of the girls and lived with them for about four years, according to testimony from sheriff’s investigators during his preliminary hearing.
The abuse would start with “bear hugs” and then escalate to sexual assaults, investigators said. The oldest of the girls would shield the other two when he tried to molest them in a shower, according to investigators.
One of the girls told authorities Roman molested her when she was 8 years old while he was driving them, authorities said. Another girl said she would be abused weekly, usually after school while her mother was at work, according to investigators.
The abuse came to light after one of the girls got in trouble at school and disclosed the assaults while explaining the situation to her mother, authorities said.