A 25-year-old Santa Ana dental assistant accused of sexually assaulting two young female patients in 2013 and 2014 was charged Friday with a pair of felonies.
Tommy Medina is expected to be arraigned sometime Friday at the Central Jail in Santa Ana on two counts of oral copulation of a child younger than 10, according to prosecutors.
He was arrested Wednesday at his job at OC Kids Dental, 630 S. Main St., according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Medina is accused of molesting the girls in a private room at the dental office, one in 2013 and the other last year, Bertagna said. The girls are now aged 7 and 6 years old.
Investigators said they are concerned there may be more cases, as Medina worked at the office for four years.
“This is an all-child dental care facility and this individual has had access to nothing but children for years,” Bertagna said. “For some reason, the children are taken to a private room and parents are not allowed to stay with the children, which gives the suspect one-on-one time with these children in a private room.”
Police said parents or guardians of any clients of OC Kids Dental from 2012 through this year should talk to their children about their interactions with Medina. Anyone who suspects inappropriate conduct should call police at (714) 245-8351.
Medina was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to Orange County Jail records.
The first incident involving a then-5-year-old girl was reported by her parents right away in 2013, according to Bertagna. There wasn’t enough evidence to file a case against Medina at the time, Bertagna said.
Last year’s alleged victim came forward to police recently following a conversation the girl had with a parent, Bertagna said.
—City News Service