Man found guilty of sexually abusing a minor for 8 years
A man faces more than 100 years in prison after he was found guilty Tuesday of engaging in more than 100 lewd acts, and dozens of sexual deeds, against a young girl, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
Arcadia Cuahtemoc Ceja, 56, was convicted of three counts of sexual intercourse with a minor 10 years old or younger; two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old; one count of sexual penetration of a minor 10 years old or younger; one count of oral copulation of a minor 10 years old or younger; and one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor age 14 or 15 years old.
According to the DA’s office, the girl reported in 2020 that Ceja had been sexually abusing her since she was 6 years old. The abuse continued for more than eight years, according to the DA.
Ceja faces up to 116 years and four months in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for April 24.
A man who believed he was meeting with a 13-year-old boy for sex
was found guilty Monday of one count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense and one count of contacting a minor for a sexual offense, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
During an undercover operation conducted by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Sexual Assault Unit, deputies posed as a 13-year-old boy. Julio Vasquez, 37, of Bakersfield interacted with the boy online for more than two months and arranged to meet with him at a park. Deputies arrested him at the park and found condoms on his person, according to the DA’s office.
Vasquez faces up to three years in prison and lifelong sex offender registration, according to the DA. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24.
A man was sentenced Wednesday to five years and five months in
prison and ordered to pay $693,614 in restitution for a long-running credit card fraud scheme after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in December.
Miguel Leyva, 36, of Wasco, stole 125 people’s personal information, such as home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses from health care providers in order to open several credit cards. He also stole checks from companies in Kern County to pay off credit cards.
His partner, Karina Arceo, was suspected of participating in the crime with him. Arceo’s case is still pending.
Leyva pleaded guilty to using the fraudulent credit cards to pay for event tickets, travel expenses, designer clothing, home appliances and car accessories from February 2016 to August 2022. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Leyva and Arceo would often resell their items for cash to pay off the credit cards.
Leyva had faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, according to the agency’s release in December.
A Wofford Heights man pleaded guilty Wednesday to distributing
explosives to a nonlicensed person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of California.
Michael Roy Anglin, 21, was accused of selling and distributing six boxes of explosives in May. One of the boxes was filled with Hydromite, which is a highly explosive blasting agent that uses ammonium nitrate.
Anglin worked with 21-year-old Lake Isabella resident Joseph Roy Vigneault, who pleaded guilty in February. Anglin, Vigneault and the buyer were all unlicensed to handle explosives, according to the agency.
Austin Powder West LLC, a licensed explosive manufacturer, noticed 295 sticks of Hydromite valued at $7,603 were missing from the Lake Isabella storage facility between May 6 and May 11.
Anglin faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 fines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.
A race car driver died in a crash Saturday at Willow Springs Inter
national Raceway in Rosamond, according to the Kern County coroner’s office.
The man was identified as Andrew Taylor Kessel, 37, of Daly City.
The Kern County coroner’s office confirmed Wednesday that the
man found dead Feb. 6 on the shoulder of Cottonwood Road near Buena Vista Boulevard was stabbed to death.
Leonard John Johnson, 43, was taken to the coroner after Kern County sheriff’s deputies found his body. Johnson’s death is considered a homicide. The Sheriff’s Office has been investigating the case since February.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is searching for an at-risk woman
who went missing in Mojave under suspicious circumstances and may be injured.
Julie Ann Weigel, 54, was last seen Tuesday at the intersection of Backus Road and 110th Street West in Mojave. The KCSO described Weigel as white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 200 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.
If anyone has information on Weigel’s whereabouts, they are asked to call the KCSO at 661-8613110 or Secret Witness at 661-3224040, or send an anonymous text type to TIP411 (847411) by typing KCSO at the beginning of the message.