(LOS ANGELES) – Today, Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced that her office has secured guilty verdicts against Christopher Rodriguez, a former preschool teacher at the Krieger Center of UCLA’s Early Care and Education department. Rodriguez, 51, was found guilty on 9 counts involving child sexual abuse, including sexual battery with restraint, penetration with a foreign object, and child abuse.
“Sexual abuse is among the most horrific violations to be committed upon anyone, especially children,” said LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. “The acts that the defendant inflicted upon multiple children are unthinkable and reprehensible. My office will always work to hold accountable sex offenders and protect our children. Thank you to the attorneys and staff in my office who worked tirelessly to bring justice to the victims and families.”
The full list of charges for which Rodriguez was found guilty:
- Penal Code §243.4(a) Sexual Battery with Restraint
- Penal Code §243.4(a) Sexual Battery with Restraint
- Penal Code §273a(b) Willful Cruelty to Child
- Penal Code §289(h) Sexual Penetration by Foreign Object
- Penal Code §243.4(a) Sexual Battery with Restraint
- Penal Code §289(h) Sexual Penetration by Foreign Object
- Penal Code §243.4(a) Sexual Battery with Restraint
- Penal Code §273a(b) Willful Cruelty to Child
- Penal Code §273a(b) Willful Cruelty to Child
The crimes were committed between July 1, 2023 and December 15, 2023.
Rodriguez faces up to seven and a half years in county jail, will be required to pay a fine, and will be required to register as a sex offender. His sentencing will take place on May 9 at the Airport Courthouse.
This case was prosecuted by Deputy City Attorney Jennifer Waxler.
City Attorney Feldstein Soto has made protecting children a key public safety priority for her administration. She is leading efforts to disrupt the sex trafficking of minors on the Figueroa corridor in South LA and has worked with legislators in Sacramento to introduce measures to strengthen laws related to sex offenses involving minors, the sex offender registry and child prostitution.
In 2024, Feldstein Soto announced that her office had secured an eight-year jail sentence and mandatory sex offender registration for Danilo Gamboa who was convicted of 14 criminal charges related to his sexual abuse of a 14-year-old minor. She also announced that Ernesto Orellana was sentenced to five years in county jail, and ordered to register as a sex offender and undergo one year of psychological counseling, after being convicted of five counts of child molestation and sexual battery for molesting three minor girls, ages 5-12. Finally, she announced that Santos Sotelo was sentenced to five years in county jail and required to register as a sex offender after being convicted of nine counts of child molestation and sexual battery against a 10-year-old.
Case #24ARCM00811-01: The People of the State of California vs Christopher Rodriguez
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Hydee Feldstein Soto is the 43rd Los Angeles City Attorney, elected in November 2022 and sworn into office in December 2022. Her team of nearly 1,000 legal professionals, including more than 500 attorneys, carries out legal work for the City of Los Angeles at her direction and under her supervision. She is the first female City Attorney in L.A. history.