LANCASTER – Three law enforcement officers took the stand Thursday in day three of the preliminary hearing for a longtime Antelope Valley soccer coach accused of molesting more than a dozen under aged boys.
Their testimony included allegations that 50-year-old Renoir Valenti molested his 10-year-old son in 2003, posed as a young boy on facebook and twitter to meet other young boys, and stored numerous pictures of young boys on his computer, in his cell phone and in his bathroom.
Valenti has pleaded not guilty to several felony counts of continuous sexual abuse and child molesting involving 13 boys, who were between 5 and 15 when the alleged molestations occurred between 1994 and 2012. Read more here.
In 2003, Valenti’s then 10-year-old son reported his father for molesting him, Sheriff’s Sergeant Anna Fernandez testified Thursday.
Deputies initially responded to Valenti’s Lancaster home on a child abuse call, but once there, Valenti’s son said his father had molested him for five years, Fernandez testified,
“He told me that his father would touch his penis,” Fernandez said. The young boy also said his father would lay in bed with him naked and hug him close to his body, Fernandez said.
She said Valenti’s son gave detectives the names of three other boys that Valenti was allegedly molesting at the time. All three boys are listed in the current complaint against Valenti.
Asked why she did not arrest Valenti in 2003, Fernandez said there was not enough evidence at the time. She said she declined to take the investigation further because Valenti’s son gave conflicting accounts of the story and there were no visible injuries or evidence of sexual molestation.
Special Victim’s Bureau Detective, Cecilia Barragan, testified that she interviewed one of boys who had been staying over at Valenti’s house on the night that Valenti was arrested (8/6/12).
The 12-year-old boy said he had met Valenti through soccer and that Valenti had been inappropriate with him on two occasions – once when Valenti grabbed him from behind, pressed his body against him and kissed him and another time when Valenti forced him on his lap, Barragan testified.
The boy also said that Valenti used social media to meet and befriend young boys.
“He would go on facebook pretending to be a boy and look at other boys,” Barragan said.
Special Victims Bureau detective, Susan Velazquez, recounted details from interviews that she conducted with several of Valenti’s alleged victims. Many of the details were similar – that Valenti would have the boys sit on his lap, rub their penis, and hug and kiss them intimately.
One of the boys said Valenti had fondled him between 100 to 200 times, Velazquez testified.
She said the boy, who now lives in Las Vegas, said Valenti would rub on his penis while masturbating himself and then ejaculate on his stomach.
Prosecutors entered into evidence a letter that Valenti had written to the boy before the boy moved out of town. In the letter, Valenti is professing his love for the boy “yesterday and forever.”
Velazquez also testified that detectives used a ruse to get Valenti to explain why evidence might show that his mouth was around his nine-year-old victim’s penis.
Detectives first claimed to have DNA evidence that revealed Valenti’s mouth was in the boy’s crotch area.
“I asked him if there was any reason why his saliva would be near [boy’s name] crotch area,” Velazquez said.
Valenti said the boy was playfully trying to fart in his face when the boy fell and his penis area landed in Valenti’s face, Velazquez testified.
She also identified the young boys in numerous pictures seized from a drawer in Valenti’s bathroom upon his arrest. Several of the pictures were of Valenti’s 13 alleged victims.
Valenti’s preliminary hearing continues Friday. At the conclusion of the hearing, a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to bring Valenti’s case to trial.
Related stories:
Updated: Allegations aired in soccer coach child-molest case
AV soccer coach now charged with molesting 13 boys
More alleged victims identified in soccer coach child molestation case
Local youth soccer coach charged with child sexual assaults, more victims sought
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julie says
there can only be one reason why a child would change his story and thats hes being threatened to keep quiet. im sure thats what the bastard did to his son. and the fact that his destination is still in the air with all this evidence bothers me. he has pictures, a love letter and all other kinds of proof and plenty to testify against him! he shouldnt even have a damn trial.
Notagain!!!! says
They should just cut off his private parts!!!
teshi says
This woman NEEDS TO BE FIRED!! “She said Valenti’s son gave detectives the names of three other boys that Valenti was allegedly molesting at the time. All three boys are listed in the current complaint against Valenti.” **Now there are MORE AND THESE BOYS were STILL ASSULTED AFTER THIS!!
“Asked why she did not arrest Valenti in 2003, Fernandez said there was not enough evidence at the time. She said she declined to take the investigation further because Valenti’s son gave conflicting accounts of the story and there were no visible injuries or evidence of sexual molestation.”
He was 10 YEARS OLD!! Not everything is going to be exact, and SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS!! By looking at this child, and these other kids, she SHOULD HAVE KNOWN it was TRUE!! Fire her ASS; SHE FAILED THESE CHILDREN, THEIR FAMILIES AND THE COMMUNITY!! Anyone Involved with this Investigation prior to this Arrest should be FIRED!!
This POS needs to Rot in Prison Castrated!!
MR ANTELOPE VALLEY says
THIS IS ONE SICK MOTHER [removed] HE NEEDS TO BE THOUGHT A LESSON
Letlow says
I can barely read about this man anymore. Each news story is more heinous than the next. I’m not a violent person, but after reading this article I want to find this waste of air and punch his face in!!!!
Quigley says
I agree Letlow…he will get what’s coming to him once he goes to his cage & has some new male friends.
Michelle says
This makes me SICK!! The fact that his own son turned him in in 2003 and he is just now being brought up on charges that MAY not hold up is disgusting! The legal system is a joke! If they would have listened to the son back in 2003 how many kids lives would not have been affected. I think the parents of the victims in between that time should sue. This is total bull [removed]! And the police and legal system wonder why they have such a hard time getting victims to talk…maybe its because you don’t LISTEN to them when the do!! Wake up and start actually doing your jobs!!
Walter White says
It’s not that easy for these guys to prosecute when they have just one statement, and the statement changes. Particularly, when it is one person’s word against another, and there is no physical evidence. I think responding Deputy’s and Investigators often know something is going on, but when there is not enough objective evidence, there is little they can do because it wont stand in Court. In this case, they have multiple witnesses corroborating each others statements from different times and locations. They are also showing various patterns of behavior by the soccer coach that lend credibility to the charges. I think the current investigators are doing a good job in and tying things together to build this case.
teshi says
Sorry but this woman should have Did her job!! Special victims unit is that! They are supposed to dig deep and find the truth, no enough evidence? No there was plenty, she could have done more, Like start with the son, physical evidence in molestations, are not always DNA! Touching and inappropriate behavior, Lewd acts upon/with a child, can be many things, like laying naked, and touching his own child. This woman FAILED!! And now there are more victims and more Destroyed lives!! No excuse!! Do your job, and do it RIGHT!! Excuses are reasons for Failure! Own up to your failed actions and do better! Repeat offenders know how to scam the system, and do twice as much work as the investigators’ to get away with what they want, be smarter, have a freaking heart and Know the Freaking Truth! That’s their JOB!
Walter White says
All CAP LOCKED WORDS and grandiose verbiage aside, you seem to have a simplistic notion of how the legal system works. Why don’t you tell me how one statement (that probably ended up changing and being recanted) would have held up in Court beyond a reasonable doubt. Based on my times on juries, I can tell you that it would not have. If this detective would have presented that to a DA, it would have likely been rejected because it would not have held in Court. In fact, the last few hearings related to the current matter have been held to determine whether or not the prosecution had enough to take to trial. Even in this instance, it still had to be determined to meet a certain threshold, and look how much evidence they have at this time. I get that this whole this is messed up and sad, but reality is reality.
teshi says
It’s called Work! That is how, you get the job done! Do real investigating, real detailed work. Have child psychologists specializing in child abuse [sex/physical/mental] interview all potential victims, accusers. Either way if this child is lying, there is a reason why and a physiologist can help determine why, that would be.
*Also certain visual characteristics that the child could identify, private areas, that would indicate the seeing him naked. Gathering as much Profiling information pertaining to a sexual predator, like pictures, contacts, gifts, trips, opportunities where the child would be alone with him, the small and big things linking that Profiling information to the possible incidences/opportunities that Valenti may have also used on his potential victims. *Like the complaints 2/3 where other people seeing him in the pool area with children should have been a flag! Real work needs to be done in these cases to have a case, where reasonable doubt could not an issue in these circumstances.
The Preponderance of evidence is where the case would give a reasonable person the no doubt that Valenti abuse these children and the means he used to do so, * the possibility that this man groomed these victims over a period of time. Another avenue that could have been used is to of had this child confront him, tape the conversations and find the truth if he dared admit to him why he did it, or why he would feel it would be okay to do so. The incident where a victim/witness sees the Pervert Valenti chokes and threatens his son, that would have been A slam dunk!
There are many possibilities in building a case, the Work Must is done, in order to prosecute, and the DA’s job would to educate the Jury throughout the trial on how these Perverts’ work, *the selection process, the grooming, the mental and physical abuse and the relationship that is either continued or destroyed. Visual information along with victim and witness statements, and predator profiling would help. An educated Jury is the best kind, and the impact of victimization should be stressed, throughout the trial.
Letlow says
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Walter. The detective did not have enough evidence to go forward in 2003, because the son’s report was shaky and the mom seems loony and not able to back up the son’s version. If you read one of the prior stories (I forget which one), the son is now saying his father did not molest him at all.
Of course the bastard molested his son, but if the son is not willing to stick the the story, then law enforcement’s hands are tied. Let’s just thank God they seem to have the sick perverted bastard for good this time around!