Man Faces Trial in Suffocation of Boy, 5

A Sun Valley man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on child molestation and child endangering charges in connection with the suffocation death in May, 1984, of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son in a clothes’ dryer.

After a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Candace Cooper of Los Angeles Municipal Court ordered John Stevens, 54, to stand trial on one count of forcible child molestation, five counts of child molestation and four counts of felony child endangering, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathleen Weast said.

Stephens is accused of molesting the son and daughter of Kimberly Miranda, 25, who was living with Stephens in his Sun Valley home at the time of her son’s death. Five-year-old Joshua Miranda and his 7-year-old sister were found in a clothes’ dryer several hours after Stephens and Miranda allegedly left the children alone while they went to work.

Joshua died shortly after being found. The girl survived and remains in a foster home, Weast said. Although a coroner’s report said Joshua “died at the hands of another,” Weast said the district attorney’s office has not decided whether to file a homicide charge.

Miranda, who testified at Stephens’ preliminary hearing, pleaded no contest in November to misdemeanor child endangering charges and was sentenced to a three-month jail term.