A convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for stealing from victims at high school wrestling meets in Anaheim and Yorba Linda, according to court records obtained Friday.
Fred Joe Ruiz, 55, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of burglary and one count each of grand theft and theft of property, all felonies. He also admitted three counts of identity theft and two counts of being a sex offender on school grounds without lawful business, all misdemeanors.
Prosecutors objected to the plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin. Prosecutors, who were seeking a life term, argued for at least 10 years in prison, according to court records.
“Not every case should settle for a low sentence; justice sometimes requires that defendants be held accountable for organized, sophisticated, maliciously exploitative conduct,” Deputy District Attorney Meghan Sullivan argued in court papers.
Ruiz stole from victims on Jan. 25, 2025, at Esperanza High School in Anaheim and March 9, 2025, at Yorba Linda High School, according to the criminal complaint.
Ruiz was convicted of multiple counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 years old on March 29, 2000, in Los Angeles County, according to court records.
Ruiz was at a high school wrestling meet committing multiple thefts and then used stolen credit cards to buy goods at a Target store in Yorba Linda.
Investigators said in court records that a search of the defendant’s phone showed “further evidence of Ruiz going to multiple athletic events of high school aged boys where he recorded them.”
Investigators added that there was “also evidence of him communicating with multiple children” suspected of being male high school students.
According to prosecutors, from 1992 through 1995, Ruiz coached a youth boys baseball team in Baldwin Park and molested ninth- and 10th-graders on the team, prosecutors said. He was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Before sentencing, Ruiz fled to El Paso, Texas, where he coached youth boys’ sports under a pseudonym and was accused of molesting four victims, prosecutors said. He was convicted in Texas in 1999, prosecutors said.
Ruiz got out of state prison in California Nov. 11, 2019, prosecutors said.
Ruiz is also accused of stealing at athletic events in Los Angeles County where he is being prosecuted in a separate case, prosecutors said.