Sheriff’s investigators Friday announced the arrest of a 47-year-old man on suspicion of molesting two underage male students he tutored in an after-school program in unincorporated Anaheim, and said Friday there may be additional victims.
Zeta Dhanapanth of Anaheim was arrested at his home on Wednesday and booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts on a child, sodomy on a child, oral copulation on a child and aggravated sexual assault on a child, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. He’s being held on $250,000 bail.
A 16-year-old boy contact sheriff’s investigators in February, alleging he was molested between the ages of 10 and 13 when he was in the after-school program at Anaheim Independecia Center, according to the sheriff’s department.
The boy alleged Dhanapanth molested him on a regular basis at the center and in a van parked near the school. A second 16-year-old was subsequently identified and also alleged he was molested by the suspect at the tutoring center when he was younger, according to a sheriff’s statement.
Dhanapanth volunteered at the center from 2012 through 2016, tutoring students in English and math. He is also self-employed as a private tutor and seeks out students by passing out flyers on the doors of residences where he lives, sheriff’s investigators said.
“Due to Dhanapanth having continued access and contact with children over the past six years, investigators believe there may be additional victims,” according to the sheriff’s statement.
Anyone with information relevant to the investigation was asked to contact the sheriff’s Special Victims Unit at (714) 647-7419.