San Fernando Valley
CEMETERY CRIME: Two San Fernando Valley men who allegedly broke into the mortuary at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Hollywood Hills and engaged in sexual intercourse with two female corpses were being held on burglary charges Tuesday, police said.
Phares Gonzales, 24, and Brandon Christopher, 23, were booked on suspicion of burglary after their arrest Sunday on the third floor of Forest Lawn’s mortuary, which sits outside the gates of the sprawling facility.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said that having sex with a corpse is not illegal in California, leaving the men liable only on charges that they broke into the building and stole computer chips from a computer in the building.
Forest Lawn spokeswoman Paula Graber said the families of the two women were immediately notified.
“An occurrence of this type has never happened at Forest Lawn,” Graber said. “We are shocked, outraged and sickened by this.”
Christopher, of Glendale, and Gonzales, of North Hollywood, were being held on $15,000 bail. If convicted, each faces a maximum three-year prison term, police said.
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