Son of Santa Ana daycare operator charged with molesting girls at facility

A 43-year-old man was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting two girls in his mother’s daycare in Santa Ana, authorities said.

Jesus Herrera of Santa Ana was charged with two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration on a child 10 years or younger after he was arrested Tuesday, according to court records.

One of the two girls, a 12-year-old, reported to police that she was sexually assaulted by Herrera when she was 7 years old, Santa Ana police said. At the time, the girl was being cared for by Herrera’s mother in her home daycare.

Police had arrested Herrera last year after investigating similar allegations from a victim who is now 19 years old, police said. That victim said that Herrera sexually assaulted her when she was 10 years old and also in the care of the man’s mother. No charges were filed at the time in that case, court records show.

Herrera was being held in lieu of $1 million bails, according to jail records. Police asked that anyone with information about the case call Detective Mario Lopez at 714-245-8530 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.