A Temecula dance instructor who sexually assaulted multiple boys he taught at different periods over more than a decade was sentenced Thursday to three years, four months in state prison.
Eric Eustacio Saradpon, 43, pleaded guilty last month to sodomy of a minor and two counts of lewd acts on a child as part of a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped three related felony counts.
During a hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
According to sheriff’s officials and court documents, Saradpon engaged in illicit sex acts with five boys between 2007 and 2019.
During the time of the crimes, Saradpon was an instructor at the Temecula Dance Company on Felix Valdez Avenue, where he preyed upon the youths, “grooming (and) seducing” them before ultimately perpetrating the offenses that he admitted, according to a D.A.’s office statement.
After one or more of the victims came forward in October 2020, sheriff’s detectives initiated an investigation that culminated in a search warrant being served at the defendant’s residence in the 39000 block of Sundance Circle, where “several evidence items were seized,” according to sheriff’s Sgt. Edmond Seltzer.
He did not specify what the items were.
Saradpon was arrested without incident on Oct. 13, 2020. However, he posted a $55,000 bond within a couple of days and remained out of custody while the case awaited disposition.
The defendant had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.