Costa Mesa hair salon owner charged with molesting 3 boys

The 61-year-old owner of a Costa Mesa hair salon was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting three boys with whom he was acquainted through his business.

Ricardo Garcia, a Fullerton resident, faces one count of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor under 14, sexual penetration by foreign object and force and oral copulation of a victim under 14, all felonies, as well as one misdemeanor count of touching an intimate part of another person, court records indicate.

Costa Mesa police arrested Garcia Tuesday at Hair by Ricardo, located at 2200 Harbor Blvd., according to a CMPD release issued Wednesday, launching an appeal for the public’s help to uncover additional victims in what detectives believed was a decade-long pattern of abuse.

Authorities suspect Garcia used his position as a hair stylist to sexually assault multiple victims over a 10-year time frame, allegedly engaging in inappropriate touching that escalated into assault, according to victims’ reports.

While details about the victims are not being made public, due to their being minors, police report they ranged in age from 13 into adulthood at the time the alleged assaults took place. CMPD spokesperson Roxi Fyad confirmed Wednesday that five victims have so far come forward.

Garcia has not yet responded to the charges, and is scheduled to appear at an arraignment hearing in Westminster on Oct. 20, according to court records.

Meanwhile, CMPD detectives are seeking assistance in identifying potential additional victims of Garcia’s, given his position and easy access to the public, the release indicated.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone who may have information is asked to call Detective Eloísa Peralta at (714) 754-5039 or Sgt. Detective David Sevilla at (714) 754-4933.