Man convicted of molesting girl for years in Orange County

A 35-year-old man has been convicted of molesting a girl in Lake Forest, months after a relative of the victim pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Gerardo Reyeslopez was convicted Wednesday of four counts of sexual intercourse or sodomy on a child 10 years or younger and seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14, all felonies. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. It was unclear where Reyeslopez resides.

Co-defendant Rut Mirian Rogel-Morales, 37, pleaded guilty March 23 to seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14, according to court records.

Reyeslopez was arrested Nov. 6, 2015, when Orange County sheriff’s deputies responded about 3 p.m. to a complaint of a suspicious vehicle in a no-parking zone in Lake Forest with its windows covered, according to prosecutors in court records.

Reyeslopez was zipping up his pants as he tumbled out of the Nissan Sentra to respond to deputies knocking on the window. He falsely claimed the victim was his daughter and that he was married to Rogel-Morales, who denied that, but who is related to the girl.

The girl, who was 12, told deputies she was sexually assaulted by Reyeslopez two or three times a week and that the molestation started when she was 8, prosecutors said. Deputies also found lewd photos of the girl on Reyeslopez’s phone, prosecutors said.

More from Orange County