Former OC cheerleading coach convicted of molesting 10 girls

Former OC coach convicted of molesting 10 girls

Erick Joseph Kristianson, 46, of Antioch, Tennessee, was arrested in 2023 in Fargo, North Dakota on a warrant in the Orange County case and extradited back to Orange County to be prosecuted.

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A former competitive cheerleading coach has been convicted of 23 felony counts related to the sexual abuse of ten girls in Orange County, according to the district attorney's office.

What we know:

Erick Joseph Kristianson, 46, was convicted on Monday of multiple felonies, including lewd acts upon minors and sexual penetration by a foreign object. 

Authorities said the crimes occurred in the early 2000s while Kristianson worked as a camp counselor and coach for several local organizations, including a high school and a competitive cheer club. 

The investigation revealed that Kristianson used his positions at Magic All-Stars, Trabuco Hills High School, and a South Orange County YMCA camp to gain access to his victims, who were as young as nine years old, authorities said. 

He was arrested in North Dakota in 2023 and extradited to California following the emergence of new allegations.

Timeline:

The abuse in Orange County took place between 1999 and 2006. However, the majority of these cases only came to light in 2022 after Kristianson was arrested in Daytona Beach, Florida, for similar crimes against children at a gym there, according to the district attorney's office.

That Florida arrest prompted a former student in California to contact authorities, leading to the broader investigation. 

Kristianson was previously arrested in Kansas in August 2022 and again in North Dakota in 2023 before being returned to Orange County for trial.

What they're saying:

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer emphasized the predatory nature of the case, stating, "For decades, Erick Kristianson used cheerleading gyms in Orange County and across the country as a kind of perverted catalog from which to select the next young girl he was going to molest. He was hiding in plain sight, a trusted coach banking on the fact that he could trust his young victims not to say anything about the abuse they were enduring."

What's next:

Kristianson will be sentenced on March 19, 2026.

He faces a maximum sentence of 165 years to life in prison. 

He also is facing pending legal action in Florida for charges related to child molestation and child exhibition involving three young athletes in Daytona Beach.