Man molested friends’ sons, bribed them with ice cream to keep quiet, CA officials say
A man molested his family friends’ sons and bribed them with ice cream and money to not report the sexual abuse, California prosecutors say.
Now, Alex Mauricio Padilla Beltran, 58, has been sentenced to 293 years to life in prison in relation to the alleged molestation, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a Feb. 21 news release.
The Santa Ana man is accused of molesting seven different boys, ranging from 6 to 13 years of age, between 2003 and 2017, according to prosecutors.
Beltran was entrusted to care for the boys, who “were the sons of family friends,” prosecutors said. He often bribed the children with money and ice cream after the alleged molestation “to keep them quiet,” according to prosecutors.
During one incident involving a 6-year-old boy, Beltran locked a bedroom door and held the child down as he molested him, prosecutors said.
In November, a jury found Beltran guilty of two dozen felonies in relation to the seven boys’ sexual abuse, prosecutors said.
“Far too often, it’s not just the monsters hiding under the bed that we have to worry about,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “It’s the monsters hiding in plain sight at family birthday parties and around our kitchen tables, waiting for the perfect moment to prey on an innocent child for their sadistic sexual gratification.”
Prior to this conviction, Beltran pleaded guilty to “felony coercion and misdemeanor conspiracy to commit a crime” after he was accused of inappropriately touching his contractor’s sons in 2009 in Las Vegas, according to prosecutors.
“Beltran gave the 12-year-old boy $10 after groping him and kissing him on the mouth and told him not to tell his parents,” prosecutors said.
However, the boy’s mother “noticed him acting oddly,” so he told her about the abuse, according to prosecutors.
Afterward, the boy’s younger brother informed his parents Beltran had also groped him, prosecutors said.
A Nevada judge had sentenced Beltran “to probation and ordered to stay away from minor children,” prosecutors said.
Santa Ana is about a 30-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Man molested friends’ sons, bribed them with ice cream to keep quiet, CA officials say."
