Officer Faces 17 Counts of Molestation Against Boy : Crime: Prosecutor who submitted the charges says the sexual abuse occurred over a period of years while the youth was living with the Sheriff’s Department employee in Garden Grove.

An Orange County sheriff’s special officer will be charged with molesting an adolescent over a period of years while the boy lived with him, a prosecutor said Friday.

James Phillip Pendrey, 35, of Stanton, who was arrested Wednesday, will face 17 counts of molestation, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Jo Escobar. The alleged victim is now 20 and living in Garden Grove.

Pendrey has served as a special officer assigned to John Wayne Airport, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner. Special officers are unsworn peace officers who are allowed to carry guns on duty and are not considered deputies.

Garner said that Pendrey was placed on administrative leave following his arrest.

Investigators said the molestation occurred when the youth was between 13 and 17. At that time, the youth was living with his mother’s permission at the officer’s Garden Grove home.

The boy moved out of Pendrey’s house in 1992, “because he couldn’t take the abuse anymore,” said Garden Grove Police Detective Mark Hutchinson of the department’s sexual abuse and child abuse section.

Although prosecutors believe the molestation began when the boy was 13, a six-year statute of limitations precludes them from filing the more serious count of molesting a child younger than 14.

Escobar said that although molestation charges “are always troubling . . . it is particularly troubling when those persons are seen to be representing the law at any level.”

Hutchinson said that the boy had been having problems with his mother and she allowed him to move in with Pendrey, who had been active in local youth organizations, where “everyone knew he was a special officer.”

Pendrey is suspected of molesting the youth at four houses in Garden Grove where the two lived, Hutchinson said.

The mother “had no idea what was going on,” he said. “There was some physical abuse, but we don’t know if force was used in connection with the sexual abuse.”

The alleged victim went to Garden Grove police about a month ago, and the charges have been under investigation since, Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson arrested Pendrey at his home while serving a search warrant. Pendrey was booked at the Orange County Jail on $50,000 bail, which he posted Thursday. Escobar submitted the charges Friday and they are expected to be officially filed Monday.

Pendrey could not be reached for comment Friday.