Corona Man Facing Life In Prison For Sex And Drugs Crimes

A 44-year-old Corona man who allegedly sexually assaulted three girls -- one of whom later married him -- must stand trial for rape and multiple other sex-and drug-related felonies, a judge ruled today.

Paul Ronald Iturzaeta could face life in prison if convicted of charges stemming from multiple alleged encounters he had with girls at his home and various motels.

Iturzaeta was arrested in December following an investigation by Corona police. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

Following a preliminary hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz found there was sufficient evidence to bound Iturzaeta over for trial for rape of an intoxicated victim, sexual penetration with a foreign object and aggravated sexual assault of a child, as well as three counts of statutory rape, two counts of oral copulation of a minor, five counts of lewd acts on a child and four counts of supplying marijuana to a minor.

Schwartz set a post-preliminary hearing arraignment in the case for July 22.

Iturzaeta attempted to act as his own attorney during today's hearing, during which two of the alleged victims testified.

One girl alleged she was 10 years old when Iturzaeta forced himself on her while she was sleeping over at the home of her then-close friend -- Iturzaeta's daughter -- several years ago.

The victim told detectives that she awoke to find "Mister Paul," as Iturzaeta was known, lying on top of her, having intercourse, prompting her to scream, at which point he left the room.

Iturzaeta also allegedly carried on a three-year relationship with another of his daughter's friends, a girl whom he wed shortly after she turned 18 -- and he was behind bars.

The witness, identified only as Jane Doe, alleged that she sought the sexual encounters, which Deputy District Attorney Elan Zekster estimated occurred hundreds of times over three years.

The third alleged victim was Jane Doe's younger sister, who testified that she smoked marijuana with Iturzaeta and passed out, awakening minutes later to find the defendant using her for his own sexual gratification.

Because of her condition, she was apparently helpless to stop the assault, according to testimony.

Investigators described Iturzaeta as a kind of fashion designer, customizing dresses for girls in the Corona area.

After detectives began their investigation, they went looking for the 5- foot-2, 100-pound defendant and found him in a room at the Holiday Inn Express off of Interstate 15 and Circle City Drive, where he was allegedly getting high on marijuana with two teenage girls and his 16-year-old daughter.

A Corona police officer said Iturzaeta was in possession of several "bags of weed."

According to court records, Iturzaeta was convicted in April 2009 of misdemeanor disturbing the peace, to which he pleaded guilty as part of a pretrial settlement with the District Attorney's Office.

Iturzaeta had originally been charged with molesting a minor. Corona police said the case stemmed from contact Iturzaeta had with a 13-year-old girl in May 2008. --City News Service