A Santa Barbara man is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly sexually molesting two young family members over a period of several years, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Jose Hurtado, 59, was being held at Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of continuous sexual abuse of a child, sexual abuse of a child, kidnap to commit rape, false imprisonment, and assault with the intent to commit certain felonies, Sgt. Riley Harwood said.
His bail was set at $1 million.
Officers were called last month to an address on the city’s Eastside on a child-molestation report.
“There they contacted a teenage girl who advised that she had been the victim of repeated sexual abuse by Hurtado beginning when she was 10-years old,” Harwood said. “The abuse took place during 2006 and 2007 at a time when the victim and her parents lived with Hurtado at his residence on the 700 block of Cook Avenue.”
Investigation revealed two additional alleged victims, Harwood said.
“One of them recounted that she had been the victim of repeated sexual abuse by Hurtado beginning when she was 14-years old,” Harwood said. “The abuse took place during 1996 when the victim and her mother and sister lived with Hurtado at the Cook Avenue residence.
“The other victim recounted that she was repeatedly sexually abused by Hurtado when she was 14-years old and resided with Hurtado in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1975.”
On Dec. 18, Detective Brian Larson obtained an arrest warrant for Hurtado, and took him into custody at his residence.
“When interviewed, Hurtado admitted to committing several acts of sexual abuse against the victims,” Harwood said.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
