Crime & Safety

Sun Valley Usher Suspected of Molesting Boys

A man who was an usher at a Sun Valley church was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting four boys he met through the church.

Marcelo Lozano, 34, pleaded not guilty in Van Nuys Superior Court to two counts each of aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse and oral copulation of a person under 14, along with one count each of forcible lewd act on a child, lewd act upon a child and sodomy of a person under 14 with 10 years difference.

The alleged crimes occurred between Jan. 1, 2006, and this June 30, and involved boys who were between 8 and 15 at the time who Lozano met through Jehovah's Witness, Sun Valley Spanish Congregation, according to the District Attorney's Office.

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Lozano was arrested Monday by the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Division officers.

He was ordered to remain jailed on nearly $1.9 million bail while awaiting his next court appearance Aug. 12.

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If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum life state prison term, according to the District Attorney's Office.

--City News Service


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