Man Gets 15-Year Term for Molestation at Park

A 38-year-old former volunteer at Reseda Park was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for molesting a 6-year-old boy in a park office during a six-week period in July and August.

Ronald Ray Rudd, who lived in his van across the street from the park, pleaded guilty before his preliminary hearing on Aug. 21 to three counts of committing a lewd act upon a child.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped three other counts of the same offense and agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 15 years, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Eduards R. Abele.

Had Rudd been convicted of all six counts, he could have faced a maximum sentence of 23 years, the prosecutor said.

Rudd, a volunteer who helped city crews clean up the park, said nothing as Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James A. Coleman sentenced him.

Rudd and another man, part-time recreation assistant Lars Juden, 38, were arrested Aug. 6 after the boy’s mother noticed her son had symptoms of a venereal disease.

Juden faces trial on two counts of molestation in November.

Prosecutors believe the two men befriended the boy and molested him in park offices and in Rudd’s van.