3rd Arrest in Taped Child Molestations

Police in Texas on Wednesday arrested a former girlfriend of the Orange County man who is suspected, along with his wife, of molesting little girls on videotape.

Authorities also identified another alleged victim of David S. Hwang as a Laredo girl, heightening fears that the series of taped molestations began a decade ago when he lived in the southern Texas city.

Nora Contreras, 29, was arrested in Laredo and charged with one count of indecency with a child, according to Orange County authorities investigating the child molestation allegations against Hwang and his wife, Sheila M. Sikat.

Laredo police are also seeking a warrant for the arrest of Hwang, who lived, worked and went to college in Texas before moving to Southern California in the mid-1990s, authorities said.

Hwang, 31, and Sikat, 23, were arrested last week -- shortly after returning from a honeymoon in the Bahamas -- when investigators allegedly found more than 100 homemade videotapes stored in a trunk in their Rancho Santa Margarita home.

Authorities suspect some of the tapes were filmed in the south Orange County home, while others, possibly dating back a decade, were shot in Laredo.

Hwang, who is being held without bail, faces 21 counts of lewd acts upon a child and an additional charge of recording minors engaging in a sex act. Sikat faces four counts of lewd acts on a child and an additional count of recording minors engaging in a sex act. She is free on $150,000 bail.

The criminal charges, however, stem from the viewing of a single tape.

Prosecutors expect to file more charges as investigators make their way through the tapes, some of which are three hours long.

Investigators identified a 7-year-old Laredo girl as one of the victims in the videotapes they have viewed so far. To date, authorities say they believe eight girls, ranging in age from 8 months to 12 years, were assaulted by Hwang and Sikat. The 8-month-old was also a Laredo girl.

Laredo police, who were alerted to the case by Orange County authorities, could not be reached to elaborate on Wednesday’s arrest. Deputy Dist. Atty. Denise Alexander, the prosecutor who is handling the case in Orange County, said she does not know whether Contreras has been identified on any of the tapes.

She also could not say whether Contreras is suspected in the alleged assaults on either of the two Laredo girls.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which launched the investigation last week, continued to view the tapes and follow up calls from concerned parents who worked or lived near the couple.

Mike Harkness, the attorney representing Hwang, has not returned telephone calls seeking comment.

Sikat’s attorney, Marc X. Carlos, said his client is innocent. He described Sikat as a young and impressionable bride with no criminal record who had just entered into the most significant relationship of her life.

“There’s nothing in her past to indicate she would be involved in something like this,” he said. “She is hardworking. She does really well at her place of work. She’s a productive member of the community.”

Sikat is concerned about her safety and her privacy, and is not staying at home, he said.

“There are no threats that I’m aware of,” Carlos said. “But I’ve handled cases like this before, and when you get charges like this, people come out of the woodwork, and who knows what could happen.”