A 74-year-old Coachella man who molested two female family members pleaded guilty Thursday to five counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.
Ysidro Anaya Sanchez admitted the felony counts Thursday under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. No charges were dismissed under the plea.
Superior Court Judge Charles Rogers scheduled a sentencing hearing for Aug. 18 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. The sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense under the terms of the plea deal is 16 years in state prison, according to the D.A.’s office.
Sanchez is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to prosecutors, he groped one relative, a girl whose identity was not disclosed, between June 2015 and June 2016, and molested the other girl, also a relation not identified, in July and August 2019.
The defendant was arrested on Jan. 15, 2020, following a sheriff’s department investigation initiated after one of the victims came forward.
Sheriff’s Investigator Prezell Burgie wrote in a bail-setting declaration that Sanchez admitted to detectives that he had a “problem” with his sexual impulses.
“I asked him if his `problem’ is touching young girls, and he said `yes,”’ Burgie said.
No other details were provided.
Sanchez had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.