19-year-old Michael Downs. (KTLA.com) |
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KTLA) -- A Santa Clarita teen pleaded not guilty Monday to 34 sex crimes charges involving 15 underage victims that he met on Facebook.
19-year-old Michael Downs could get life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
He is due back in court on March 5.
Last month, prosecutors added five new counts against Downs, including felony charges of committing a lewd act on a child, unlawful sexual intercourse, sexual penetration by a foreign object and misdemeanor sexual battery.
The new charges involve three girls between the ages of 13 and 15, according to authorities.
Downs was already charged with 29 counts of sexual assault involving more than a dozen different victims.
He was arrested on Dec. 15 and is being held on $1.8 million bail.
Sheriff's detectives began investigating Downs in December, when a girl reported she was sexually assaulted by Downs earlier in the year, according to a sheriff's news release.
The investigation led detectives to 13 other girls between the ages of 12 and 16, who said Downs had assaulted them as well, according to the news release.
Additional victims came forward in the days after Downs' arrest, and authorities said they expected even more to surface.
Downs allegedly met the girls at social events, public places and, in many of the cases, on Facebook.
The alleged sexual assaults took place at "various locations throughout the Santa Clarita Valley," according to the news release.
Downs would allegedly befriend the girls on Facebook, saying he was 16 and giving them the names of other teen girls, claiming to be friends with them as well.
He would then "ultimately convince them to meet with him and then allegedly (have) sex with them," according to the news release.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau at 866-247-5877.
19-year-old Michael Downs could get life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
He is due back in court on March 5.
Last month, prosecutors added five new counts against Downs, including felony charges of committing a lewd act on a child, unlawful sexual intercourse, sexual penetration by a foreign object and misdemeanor sexual battery.
The new charges involve three girls between the ages of 13 and 15, according to authorities.
Downs was already charged with 29 counts of sexual assault involving more than a dozen different victims.
He was arrested on Dec. 15 and is being held on $1.8 million bail.
Sheriff's detectives began investigating Downs in December, when a girl reported she was sexually assaulted by Downs earlier in the year, according to a sheriff's news release.
The investigation led detectives to 13 other girls between the ages of 12 and 16, who said Downs had assaulted them as well, according to the news release.
Additional victims came forward in the days after Downs' arrest, and authorities said they expected even more to surface.
Downs allegedly met the girls at social events, public places and, in many of the cases, on Facebook.
The alleged sexual assaults took place at "various locations throughout the Santa Clarita Valley," according to the news release.
Downs would allegedly befriend the girls on Facebook, saying he was 16 and giving them the names of other teen girls, claiming to be friends with them as well.
He would then "ultimately convince them to meet with him and then allegedly (have) sex with them," according to the news release.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau at 866-247-5877.
