Accusations that entertainer Cecilio Rodriguez committed sex offenses against two children 12 to 15 years ago in California surfaced this year when one of the victims told her father, officials in California said.
Carson, Calif., sheriff’s officials said the father asked his daughter to deliver a package to Rodriguez’s home in Hawaii. The victim then told her father of the alleged abuse by Rodriguez.
The victim made a report on June 23 to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Carson Station deputies, who began an extensive investigation.
The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Sept. 27, and two counts of the charge of lewd acts upon a child were filed. Rodriguez, 66, was arrested Tuesday at a Carson home.
Based on their investigation, detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau said there might be more victims, including in Hawaii, authorities said Monday. They did not offer details.
Rodriguez was released on a $200,000 bond over the weekend. Rodriguez, of the group Cecilio & Kapono, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Compton Municipal Court to charges of sex offenses against two children in Los Angeles, according to court documents. He was on a West Coast tour and had recently played in Redondo Beach.
His preliminary hearing will be set Oct. 13 at his next court appearance in the Compton Court. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Rodriguez faces a maximum imprisonment of 10 years if convicted.
Rodriguez is accused of committing sex crimes against two sisters, who were 5 and 8 years old at the time. The two-count felony complaint against Rodriguez said one sex crime occurred with an underage girl between Nov. 6, 1997, and Nov. 5, 1999. The second occurred with another girl between May 6, 1996, and May 5, 1998, according to the complaint. Rodriguez posted bail and was released on Saturday.
The women are family friends of the entertainer. One of the victims told Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives the abuse occurred in Carson, Calif.
Under California law, charges may be filed for felony sex crimes committed against victims younger than 18 who come forward before their 28th birthday.
Rodriguez was convicted of attempted sexual assault 17 years ago in Hawaii County. He pleaded no contest to attempted sexual assault in the second degree in 1994 and was sentenced to one year in jail, 500 hours of community service and mandatory participation in a sex-offender treatment program.
As part of his 1994 deferred acceptance plea, which would erase the conviction from his record if he stayed out of trouble for 10 years, he was ordered to avoid employment where he would be with children under 14 without the supervision of an approved adult. He also was prohibited from making contact with any minor child without the permission of his probation officer, according to Hawaii court records.
He was on probation from the Hawaii County case when the California assaults allegedly occurred.
However, Hawaii County Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi, who was a deputy prosecutor at the time, said her office "can’t do anything because the case is closed."
She said that in July 1993 a Hilo grand jury indicted Rodriguez on first- and third-degree sexual assault involving a girl who was 7. The charge was later dismissed because of technicalities. Another Hilo grand jury re-indicted the entertainer on a single count of attempted second-degree assault with the same victim.
Rodriguez entered a no-contest plea in 1994. Iboshi said the girl’s family wanted to end the case, which she described as "very traumatizing" for the family.
On Aug. 31 Rodriguez was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant. He was sentenced to 240 hours of community service and a $500 fine.
Rodriguez and fellow Hawaii entertainer Henry Kapono formed Cecilio & Kapono in 1973.
