Drugs-for-Sex Scandal Jolts Girls’ Parents, Neighborhood

Three years ago, when he and his wife parted after 20 years of marriage, Felix Florencio Maron bought a red, 1982 Ferrari and shifted into life’s fast lane. In no time there was seemingly endless traffic of young women through the elaborate master bedroom of his two-story, stucco home on Sleepyhollow Terrace in El Toro.

But several of those who passed through Maron’s bedroom with the wet bar, fur rug and mirrored headboard were 14 to 16 years old, said Orange County sheriff’s investigators. And at least seven teen-agers have told investigators that Maron, 53, gave them cocaine in exchange for sex.

Residents in the neighborhood said they had long felt that Maron’s life style was too scandalous for their tastes. But when the father of a 15-year-old girl discovered that his daughter was visiting Maron’s house just a few doors away, he called sheriff’s investigators.

Held Without Bail

Maron was arrested Aug. 16 and is being held without bail in the County Jail, charged with 133 counts of providing cocaine and having unlawful sex with minors.

To say the neighbors are upset is putting it mildly. More than a dozen attended Maron’s arraignment last Wednesday, bringing a petition with 500 signatures demanding that he be held without bail. Two of them, including the father of the 15-year-old girl, told The Times they considered getting guns and confronting Maron if he wasn’t kept behind bars.

Maron’s attorney, Donald Rubright, said the outdoor air conditioning unit to his client’s home was vandalized following his arrest. The windows on Maron’s tan 1980 Mercedes with the ZEEKAT plates were shattered, Rubright said, and sugar was poured in the gas tanks of the two cars and truck parked in his garage.

While not condoning the threats and vandalism, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jill Roberts said that she understands why the neighbors would be so disgusted. It’s bad enough that a middle-aged man would have sex with teen-age girls, Roberts said, but “to start a girl on cocaine at 14 is absolutely appalling.”

“There are nice kids experimenting with drugs. They think it’s fascinating and sophisticated,” Roberts said. “With the highly addictive nature of the drug, it would keep them coming back. You’re talking about turning people to a life of crime. The possibilities are mind-boggling.

“The people living there are well-intentioned and they feel hopeless,” Roberts said. “They want to have some impact on the system.”

Prostitution Allegation

At least one of the girls alleged in court documents that Maron offered to set her up as a prostitute, pledging to solicit customers and pay for her clothing if she split the take 50-50. The girl also said that on Aug. 10, when Maron suspected her of talking to police, he waved a gun and said, “Don’t (expletive) with me, I’m not afraid to use this gun, tell me the (expletive) truth.”

But while Roberts, sheriff’s investigators and most of the neighbors consider Maron to be a lecherous, ruthless man, Rubright, friends and business associates paint a somewhat different portrait.

Rubright does not deny that his client willingly had sex and provided cocaine to teen-age girls. “But if he was such a Machiavellian creep I wouldn’t be getting all these calls from people expressing their affection for Felix,” Rubright said.

Maron is nothing more than a wealthy and somewhat naive middle-aged man recently separated from a wife he still loves and possibly experiencing a mid-life crisis, Rubright said. “Some of the acts may be due to a certain amount of lecherousness on my client’s part,” the attorney said. “He’s alone, he’s middle-aged, he’s vulnerable, the fear of losing potency, da-dah, da-dah, da-dah.”

But it was the parents who tipped off authorities, Rubright said. The girls not only were willing participants, he said, but many were aggressively seeking the opportunity to engage in sex for cocaine, alcohol and marijuana, telephoning Maron at his home and at two electrical firms he owns in the Compton area.

‘Girls Were Aggressive’

“You would think he was seducing 8-year-olds who were sweet, young things,” Rubright said. “Some of these girls were aggressive. How much is Felix being the exploiter and how much was he being exploited himself? He (suggested) that some of the girlfriends were blackmailing him.”

A native of Peru, Maron immigrated to the United States in 1957. He became a U.S. citizen shortly thereafter, married in 1964 and eventually fathered three daughters and a son. A friend who requested anonymity said Maron did “dish-washing-type jobs” before earning an engineering degree from a Los Angeles college.

He quickly accumulated a great deal of money. His two firms--Maron Engineering and Dominguez Engineering-- are “big money makers,” Rubright said. Maron also owned a restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles and recently sold the Marone Restaurant in Mission Viejo. He owns a travel agency in Laguna Hills and “a house here and a condo there,” Rubright said.

‘Cocaine for Sex’

Maron moved to Orange County about eight years ago. The friend and sources close to the investigation said that Maron’s marriage disintegrated three years ago, but the couple have not filed for divorce. Irene Maron, who lives with her children in south Orange County, declined to talk about her husband last week when a reporter went to her home.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Blair said that investigators do not know how long Maron was allegedly trading drugs for sex. But court documents state that on Nov. 30, 1982, a nonprofit organization called “WETIP” received a call from an anonymous source alleging that Maron was “offering cocaine to girls 15 to 17 in exchange for sex.” Investigators say they had insufficient evidence at the time to make an arrest.

Neighbors have long been suspicious of Maron’s activities, but he has no prior arrest record. Ronald Higuera, who lives near Maron, said that several months ago he began noticing young girls “going in and out of that place.”

“I’m concerned about Mr. Maron,” Higuera said. “There’s a lot of young girls in this neighborhood. At least we know he’s in jail.”

Afraid of Parents’ Reaction

Roberts and Blair said that they are not surprised that a person in the neighborhood could engage in such activities without raising too much suspicion. The girls probably kept quiet because they were afraid of how their parents would react, Roberts said.

According to court documents, Maron would usually pick up the girls at a nearby location in one of his cars, instruct them to keep down so they would not be seen and drive them into his garage, which has an entrance to the house. Roberts said that the seven girls questioned by investigators all live within two miles of Maron’s home.

All the girls told investigators they met Maron during the last six months and were given 1 to 1 1/2 grams of cocaine each time they had sex with him. Cocaine normally sells for about $100 a gram. The girls each said they visited Maron from 10 to 40 times since February.

14-Year-Old Sister

One 16-year-old girl received a “bonus” of cocaine from Maron when she brought her 14-year-old sister to his home and helped undress her, according to court documents. The documents quote Maron as telling the younger sister, “I wasn’t sure you were old enough, but it’s OK, (she) said you were 14.”

A list of more than 100 female first names was taken from Maron’s home when he was arrested, Roberts said. The names may be “a diary of sorts” listing minor girls, she said. But Rubright said there are no ages, last names, addresses or telephone numbers with the list and it could be “merely the ramblings of a middle-aged man.”

Investigators also confiscated a rifle and six loaded handguns, including a .25-caliber Beretta pistol Maron kept under the pillow on his bed. Cocaine and marijuana residue was taken from the house, but no substantial amount of drugs was found.

Childish Effort to Impress

The guns, the alleged threats made to the 15-year-old girl and remarks attributed to Maron about being familiar with the Mafia were part of the testimony at Wednesday’s arraignment. Rubright said his client denies threatening the girl and may have mentioned an affiliation with organized crime in a childish effort to impress his girlfriends.

“The Mafia thing is so ludicrous as to be laughable,” Rubright said. Nevertheless, Rubright said that investigators checked with Los Angeles authorities, who told them that Maron purchased his Ferrari from a dealer who had sold cars to “underworld figures.” Authorities also investigated crime syndicate ties to restaurants on La Cienega Boulevard, but Maron’s restaurant was not one of them, Rubright said.

Roberts said that the crime syndicate connection probably is not valid. “But it’s better to be on the safe side,” she said. “Who can take a chance when you’ve got seven guns, six of them loaded?”

Rubright said that Maron got into the habit of keeping guns because his businesses are in a high-crime area and he was known to carry large amounts of cash.

Personally Hurt

Rubright was critical of Judge Hamilton’s refusal to set bail. “I don’t look at my clients through rose-colored glasses. I’ve represented a lot of lurid types,” he said. “But he’s a very bright, likable person. He does not come across like Dracula. He’s a very gentle, soft-spoken person. He is personally hurt by the judge’s belief that he’s dangerous and will hurt someone.”

The father of the 15-year-old girl said that the damage has already been done. The girl was hospitalized because of emotional problems created by her involvement with Maron, he said.

“He has almost a hypnotic effect on these girls,” the father said. “It’s like brain-washing. This is a good, beautiful, law-abiding place to live. He’s a dangerous man and we don’t want him back in this neighborhood.”

If there’s any consolation to the father and other neighbors, Maron probably won’t move back to the house at 25115 Sleepyhollow Terrace.

“He’s selling the place,” Rubright said. “He has no desire to be back in that neighborhood.”