Man Who Faked Death Admits Molestation

A Newhall man who faked his own death to throw police off his trail pleaded no contest Monday to two counts of child molestation.

Bob Edward Stephens, once a member of Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, admitted that he molested a boy, now 17, in 1984 and 1985. Stephens, 35, entered his plea before San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab and remains in custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22.

Stephens was arrested in January by FBI agents in St. Petersburg, Fla., after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received an anonymous tip from a television viewer who saw a profile of Stephens on “L.A.’s Most Dangerous” program last September.

Stephens had been charged with child molestation two years ago but fled California while free on bail, authorities said. In an attempt to persuade sheriff’s investigators that he had died, Stephens ran death notices in the Newhall Signal in 1988 and sent suicide notes to relatives, authorities said. Authorities said they never believed the ruse and had continued looking for him.