2 Sought for Skipping Molestation Trial

Authorities continued to search Tuesday for a Costa Mesa couple who failed to show up in court to stand trial on charges of molesting a 13-year-old girl who participated in a Santa Ana youth program they operated.

A judge on Monday issued arrest warrants for Jesse Moreno Huerta, 37, and Maria Edith Moreno, 30, who had been free on bail for about a year and were last seen in court Thursday for a pretrial hearing.

“The search is on,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Hight said.

The husband and wife were among four people affiliated with the drug and gang prevention program, known as Pentathlon International Corps, set to be tried Monday on charges of sexual misconduct stemming from alleged group sex encounters last year.

Jesse Huerta, the commander of the group, promoted his organization by claiming it was an offshoot of a well-respected and legitimate athletic training program in Mexico called Pentathlon Deportivo Militar Universitario. Authorities said the Santa Ana program had no ties with the Mexican athletic group.

The two were each charged with five counts of felony child molestation, and jury selection was set to begin in their trial Monday when they failed to appear. Huerta, who had contended that the charges resulted from allegations by a disgruntled teenager, had been free on $80,000 bail and Moreno was free on a $25,000 bond.

“We had really got everything down to where we were ready to proceed,” said defense attorney Roland Rubalcava, who represents Huerta. “I don’t know what happened.”

Superior Court Judge William W. Bedsworth agreed on Tuesday to start the trial for a third defendant charged in the case, Nasser “Nick” Rajabi.

A fourth defendant, Jose Garcia, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of felony child molestation and faces sentencing on Dec. 4. He faces up to 8 years in prison, depending on the results of a psychiatric evaluation, Hight said.

Santa Ana police said they have been searching for another defendant, Miguel Angel Navarro, a 24-year-old Santa Ana man who jumped bail earlier this year.

Police asked anyone with information on the whereabouts of the three to call Santa Ana police Investigator Ben Rodriguez of the sex crimes unit at (714) 834-4801.