DHS Man Charged with Sexually Abusing Foster Children

INDIO (CNS) - A Desert Hot Springs man accused of repeatedly sexually
abusing foster children was charged Thursday with multiple felony offenses.
  

Sergio Avalos Perez, 64, was arrested Tuesday following a Riverside
County Sheriff's Department investigation that began in December.
  

Perez is charged with three counts of lewd acts on a minor and one
count each of forced oral copulation of a child and sexual assault of a child
under 10 years old, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting
multiple victims in sex crimes and perpetrating sexual offenses on youths under
14 years old.
  

The defendant pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Thursday before
Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker, who scheduled a felony settlement
conference for Feb. 2 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
  

Perez is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
  

According to a bail-setting affidavit filed by sheriff's Detective
Arnoldo Iniguez, deputies were notified in mid December of a possible sexual
assault perpetrated by the defendant at the foster home run by him and his
wife, whose identity wasn't disclosed.
  

Court records allege the offenses were perpetrated on three girls,
whose identities also were not disclosed, between March 2021 and March 2025.
  

Iniguez said investigators interviewed a 9-year-old girl on Dec. 15,
who recalled an encounter during which Perez, whom she called her ``foster
father,'' forced her to orally copulate him.
  

``She stated he did the same act twice,'' according to the affidavit.
``During this investigation, (a total of) three underage females who were
fostered by Perez and his wife disclosed they were sexually abused while they
lived with him in his home, while he operated the foster care residence.''
  

Another girl, also 9 years old, alleged the defendant forced her to
perform oral sex, too, according to Iniguez.
  

``She also disclosed that Perez put his penis inside her vagina, which
hurt her vagina,'' according to the affidavit. ``She confirmed that Perez
put his penis inside her vagina two different times; however, he also made
several unsuccessful attempts (because she told him to stop).''
  

One of the victims described an episode in which Perez allegedly
grabbed her from behind and assaulted her with her clothes on, while he was in
his underpants.
  

Another victim alleged he groped her thighs and buttocks and also
masturbated while staring at her as she sat across from him.
  

Investigators conducted an interview with the defendant at the
sheriff's Palm Desert station Tuesday. He denied many of the alleged offenses,
but ``did confess that one time when (a victim) was doing laundry, he noticed
she was bent over.''
  

``Perez added that her shorts were so short he could see her butt,
which gave him the urge to remove her pants and underwear and grab her bare
butt and squeeze it,'' according to the affidavit. ``Perez added that even
though he knew it was wrong, it felt good to touch her buttock.''
  

After his arrest, Iniguez said several of Perez's relatives came
forward, alleging he had fondled them or behaved in an otherwise lewd manner,
according to the affidavit.
  

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside
County.