Yorba Linda : Judge Seeks Details on Charges Against Mayor
An Orange County Municipal Court judge said Thursday that molestation charges against Mayor Pro Tem Michael Beverage may be dropped unless the district attorney’s office provides more information about claims that Beverage annoyed and molested his stepson.
Municipal Judge Linda Lancet Miller gave the district attorney’s office until June 17 to amend the seven child molestation and annoyance complaints, which claim abuses between April and last December, without giving exact dates.
“The way that complaint was alleged, there was no way to prepare a defense. It’s like being accused of stealing a car sometime in your life,” said Jeffrey Friedman, Beverage’s attorney.
Friedman said the 17-year-old boy fabricated the abuse stories because he doesn’t get along with his stepfather. Since filing the complaint, the youth has been living with his natural father.
Beverage has been a member of the City Council for more than three years.
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