Jose Antonio Hernandez (O.C. District Attorney's Office) |
SANTA ANA -- Charges have been dropped against a 45-year-old man accused of groping two girls on a bus.
Jose Antonio Hernandez, of Santa Ana, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of child annoyance and two misdemeanor counts of battery.
Those charges were dismissed at a court hearing on Thursday.
Orange County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Farrah Emami said the court determined that Hernandez was incompetent to stand trial.
"The District Attorney's office objected to the dismissal, arguing that Mr. Hernandez should be placed in a facility with a conservatorship to ensure that he is treated as the community is protected," Emami said.
Emami said the court ordered that Hernandez be sent to the custody of Immigration and Custom Enforcement for potential deportation.
Police say Hernandez approached an 11-year-old girl riding a bus home from school on April 19, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back so her body was touching his.
The girl pulled away and moved to another part of the bus.
On April 20, Hernandez is accused of riding a bus on the same route and approaching another young girl, a 13 year old.
Authorities say he approached her, put his hands around her waist and held her for several seconds before she elbowed him to get away, then got off the bus.
The two victims attend the same school but do not know each other.
The girls independently told the assistant principal at their school about the man, and the assistant principal contacted the police.
On May 4, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested Hernandez after locating him on a bus on the same route at the same time that the two child annoyance cases had occurred.
Hernandez faced a maximum sentence of three years in jail if convicted.
Jose Antonio Hernandez, of Santa Ana, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of child annoyance and two misdemeanor counts of battery.
Those charges were dismissed at a court hearing on Thursday.
Orange County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Farrah Emami said the court determined that Hernandez was incompetent to stand trial.
"The District Attorney's office objected to the dismissal, arguing that Mr. Hernandez should be placed in a facility with a conservatorship to ensure that he is treated as the community is protected," Emami said.
Emami said the court ordered that Hernandez be sent to the custody of Immigration and Custom Enforcement for potential deportation.
Police say Hernandez approached an 11-year-old girl riding a bus home from school on April 19, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back so her body was touching his.
The girl pulled away and moved to another part of the bus.
On April 20, Hernandez is accused of riding a bus on the same route and approaching another young girl, a 13 year old.
Authorities say he approached her, put his hands around her waist and held her for several seconds before she elbowed him to get away, then got off the bus.
The two victims attend the same school but do not know each other.
The girls independently told the assistant principal at their school about the man, and the assistant principal contacted the police.
On May 4, deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested Hernandez after locating him on a bus on the same route at the same time that the two child annoyance cases had occurred.
Hernandez faced a maximum sentence of three years in jail if convicted.
