A former Saddleback Church youth mentor, who was convicted of molesting twin teenage boys but won a retrial due to juror misconduct, is now facing charges of molesting two other boys, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Ruven Meulenberg, 39, of Lake Forest, was convicted in 2018, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Macias granted a new trial in 2019 when the defendant’s attorney at the time, Brian Gurwitz, argued that one of the jurors improperly shared information about psychiatric testing of subjects in criminal trials.
The juror was a law office manager who improperly discussed her personal experience with psychological testing during deliberations, Gurwitz said. She was attempting to get the jurors to ignore evidence from an expert, Dr. Jody Ward, who testified that Meulenberg did not have sexual interest in minors and lacked homosexual tendencies, Gurwitz said.
After the new trial was granted, another accuser came forward to authorities saying he met the defendant through the church when he was 13, prosecutors said.
That triggered motions from Meulenberg’s attorney at that time, Cori Ferrentino, who alleged vindictive prosecution. That motion was later denied and the retrial was back on track.
After charges regarding the third alleged victim were filed, a fourth accuser came forward alleging he was touched inappropriately between 2017 and 2018 while the defendant drove him home from a church event when he was 14, prosecutors said. Charges were added last week.
Meulenberg’s current attorney, John Barnett, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.