Court delays accused sex offender’s hearing
NEWPORT BEACH — An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday pushed back the preliminary hearing date for a former Laguna Beach rug store manager accused of multiple sex crimes.
Judge Carlton Biggs agreed to move the hearing at the request of the defense for Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan, 54, to April 12 inside the Harbor Justice Center.
Maralan’s attorney, John Barnett, said he had not received certain phone records, emails and other “electronic information” from the complainants.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Walker told Biggs she had not received any subpoenaed records.
The Orange County district attorney filed 14 counts, including 11 felonies, against Maralan. The charges include: rape, sexual penetration by a foreign object, attempted forcible rape and sexual battery.
Police reported the victim count at 11 women, in an August 2012 Coastline Pilot story. Many of the alleged crimes took place inside the Sirous & Sons Rug Gallery on Ocean Avenue from 2007 to 2010.
The rug store is now closed.
Maralan pleaded not guilty to all counts and posted bail. He appeared in court Friday.
In August Maralan settled a lawsuit in which he was accused of owing $30,000 in back rent for a Laguna Niguel home. Maralan agreed to pay $25,000 to landlord Vladimir Feingold, according to the Coastline Pilot.
He was cited in the lawsuit for not vacating the property or paying $30,000 in rent for the $4 million home in the Monarch Point gated community.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
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