Local News in Brief : Molester Pleads Guilty
A Tarzana man pleaded guilty Thursday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to sexually molesting two boys and a girl who were child actors he cared for as a “set sitter.”
In an agreement with prosecutors, Joseph Christian Fontana, 32, pleaded guilty to three of 16 counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Pargament said. All the counts involved the three children, who now range in age from 16 to 20.
The sexual molestation occurred from 1981 to 1986 in the children’s homes and in Fontana’s apartment, Pargament said. Fontana was “a close friend of the families,” whose job involved driving the children to and from their acting jobs and acting as baby-sitter in the afternoon until working parents arrived home, the prosecutor said.
Judge Robert Wallerstein scheduled sentencing for Feb. 11 in Van Nuys Superior Court. Fontana, who is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, faces a maximum term of 10 years in state prison.
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