Former OC cheerleading coach convicted of molesting 10 girls

SANTA ANA, Calif. - An Orange County cheerleading coach was convicted of more than two dozen felony sex charges for molesting 10 girls.

What we know:

Erick Joseph Kristianson, 46, was convicted on 23 felony child sex assault counts with sentencing enhancements for multiple victims and substantial sexual conduct.

Kristianson, who is scheduled to be sentenced March 19, testified that he never molested any of the girls and that when he worked with some of the accusers in gyms there were security cameras in place. He also said he didn't lose his virginity until he was 27.

The accusers from Orange County were "living their lives until 2022" when Kristianson was arrested in a case out of Florida, Deputy District Attorney Juliet Oliver said in her closing argument of the trial.

What they're saying:

"It became apparent the man who did it to them did it again in Florida," Oliver said.

One of the alleged victims saw the news in Florida and came forward to Orange County sheriff's investigators, Oliver said.

"We saw their raw emotion," Oliver said of the accusers who testified. "The mere sight of him brought them to tears."

The accusers had no other ulterior motive to come forward, Oliver argued.

One victim had to fly to Orange County to testify in the case, the prosecutor said.

"This is not a woman making things up," Oliver said. "She knew it was the right thing to do and wanted to get through it as quickly as possible and she told you that on the stand."

A statement issued by the District Attorney's Office in May 2023 spurred a handful of victims to come forward, Oliver said. The accusers felt "embarrassment, shame, guilty, self-blame," Oliver said to explain why it took them years to come forward. They also felt an "imbalance" at the time as he was an adult and celebrated coach, Oliver argued.

Accusers come forward 

Timeline:

One victim told her mother she was molested in November 2005, and another told a therapist at the end of 2006, Oliver said. Another accuser told a friend in 2018, she added.

Oliver said Kristianson was "brazen, bold and only getting more and more emboldened as the years went on."

Kristianson was detained in November 2005 and questioned by deputies, but wasn't charged, Oliver said.

"Of course he denies it," Oliver said. "He's been denying this from day one. He's had over two decades to come up with this absolutely ridiculous story that he was never alone with these girls... It's simply absurd but it's certainly not a surprise."

One accuser was 14 when she met him in 1999 through a YMCA summer camp, Oliver said, adding the defendant was 21. "Flirtatious" messages eventually graduated to him taking her to a Trabuco Hills High School dance, Oliver said.

Kristianson would engage in sex acts with her in a local community center and in his car, Oliver said.

"She repeatedly said to him she wanted to be his girlfriend," Oliver said. "She was so excited to go to the dance with him. She loved the attention she was getting from him."

Another accuser met him in 1998 when she was 11-years-old, as the friend of Kristianson's younger brother, Oliver said. The defendant sexually assaulted her as they watched a movie together, Oliver argued.

Another accuser said she met him when she was 11 in 2002 and he was a cheerleading coach at Magic All Star. The defendant also coached cheerleading at Trabuco Hills High School in 2005.

Kristianson testified how he formed a surfing club with some of the cheerleaders as a team-bonding experience. Oliver said the accuser would "hang out" with him before practice and get surfing lessons from him as they had sex multiple times a week, Oliver argued.

"She left Magic All Stars to get away" from him eventually, Oliver argued.

One accuser said he started molesting her when she was 9-years-old in 2002 through 2004, Oliver said. In one instance, during a cheerleading session, "He puts her on his lap at an extremely opportune time -- he had an erection," Oliver said.

The girl was too young to understand at the time that he was aroused, Oliver argued.

Kristianson allegedly told her, "You can touch it if you want to," Oliver said.

Another accuser was 15 when the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted her as her cheerleading coach, Oliver said. He would allegedly pick her up at Dana Hills High School and assault her in her home jacuzzi and in her bedroom, Oliver said.

Eventually, the teen came up with a false excuse that she had to undergo "nose surgery," so she had to quit cheerleading, Oliver said.

Another accuser was 16 when she met him through cheerleading in 2004, and another alleged victim was 13 around the same time, Oliver said.

One accuser "felt she was in a relationship with the defendant," Oliver said.

The other side:

Kristianson's attorney, Cyrus Shahrooz Tabibnia argued that one of the accusers remained his "friend" on Instagram over the past "15 or 20 years or so," until he was arrested.

"I would suggest her claims are not credible," Tabibnia said.

The defense attorney also argued that some of the accusers could not accurately describe his residences or his "private parts" when he questioned them during testimony.

Some of the accusers are "relying on alleged memories from 25 years ago. This is the problem with this case," Tabibnia said.

Two of the accusers have substance abuse issues and jurors can consider that to weigh their credibility, Tabibnia argued.

Orange CountyCrime and Public Safety