A music teacher suspected of molesting multiple students in Riverside County was behind bars Wednesday after he was re-arrested in an ongoing investigation into his alleged illicit contact with the youths.
Omar Garcia Herrada, 54, of Woodcrest, was booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside Tuesday on suspicion of sexual assault of minors and related allegations. He’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Herrada was first arrested at the end of October following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation stemming from information that one of his pupils in the La Cresta area, west of Temecula, furnished regarding alleged inappropriate touching.
The circumstances weren’t specified.
Before the case could be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for review, the suspect posted an undisclosed amount of bail and was released from jail.
However, detectives from the sheriff’s Special Investigations Bureau continued looking for other potential victims. According to Sgt. Jim Peters, in the last two weeks additional unnamed parties came forward alleging that Herrada had sexually abused them, though further details were not provided, including their identities and locations.
Peters said an arrest warrant was obtained and served on the suspect after he was stopped while driving toward Rancho Cucamonga. He was taken into custody without incident.
The expanded case was expected to be submitted to the D.A.’s office Thursday for review.
Background information on Herrada, including the number of years he has provided private music lessons in the region, was unavailable.