Los Angeles authorities sought sexual assault victims Tuesday after they charged a South Gate man with allegedly abusing two boys for nearly a decade.
Andrew Sandoval, who has worked as a substitute teacher and teacher’s aide at dozens of schools and child care facilities across Los Angeles County, is being held on $7 million bail after the 27-year-old was arrested on suspicion of child molestation and other related charges in July.
“What makes this tragedy even more heinous is that the perpetrator was a substitute teacher, an individual entrusted with the caring education of our children,” LA County District Attorney George Gascon said Tuesday while announcing the charges. “This betrayal of trust is reprehensible in our community's rightfully outraged.”
Gascon added officers with the Los Angeles Police Department executed a search warrant at Sandoval’s house after receiving a cyber tip about child pornography.
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“Officers discovered a cell phone and a laptop inside the home. Officers found videos in the defendant's phone of him performing sexual acts on what appeared to be an 8-year-old boy,” Gascon said.
Investigators believe Sandoval abused another boy who was between age 4 and 9.
In addition to Sandoval having had frequent access to children while in educational settings, authorities said their investigations revealed how “deep, dark and disturbing” Sandoval’s alleged acts were.
“Many of us in this room standing behind me have been around for decades in this profession and from time to time certain cases do nothing but shock our consciousness. This is one of those cases that does exactly that,” South Gate Police Chief Darren Arakawa said.
Arakawa explained the two victims knew Sandoval without getting into details but added the suspect may have been associated with “several dozen schools.”
Investigators are finalizing the list of schools the suspect has worked over the years, with the knowledge that Sandoval’s stay at the schools were limited to a couple of days at a time, according to Arakawa.
Authorities said they will contact the schools and notify parents and students as soon as Sandoval’s employment background is confirmed.
This case is being investigated by the South Gate Police Department. The Los Angeles Police Department is assisting in the investigation.
Additional victims or anyone with information is encouraged to call the South Gate Police Department’s tip line at 323-563-5436.
