Sex offender charged with sexually assaulting a mom and chasing two teen girls while exposing himself

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 30-year-old registered sex offender has been charged with sexually assaulting a mother while she was walking with her five-year-old daughter and baby near a Santa Ana market an hour after chasing two teenage girls with his male member exposed, according to the OCDA.

Moises Hernandez, 30, of Costa Mesa has been charged with one felony count of sexual penetration by force, one felony count of lewd act upon a child, two felony counts of indecent exposure, one misdemeanor count of battery and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.

Hernandez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

On June 4, 2024, two 15-year-old girls were walking in Santa Ana when a man later identified as Hernandez stopped his bike and approached them with his penis protruding from his pants. The girls ran away, but Hernandez chased after them, eventually trying to block the girls from running away by standing in a doorway of a nearby apartment building. He groped one of the girls as she ran away from him.

About an hour later, Hernandez sexually assaulted a 36-year-old woman who was walking with her 5-year-old daughter and her baby stroller near Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue. He also is accused of grabbing the 5-year-old girl by her neck. Hernandez rode off on his bicycle but was later arrested by the Santa Ana Police Department.

Hernandez was previously convicted twice of indecent exposure as well as sexual battery. He is a registered sex offender.

“Sexual predators will never stop preying on vulnerable victims for their own twisted pleasures until they are arrested,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No mother should have to worry about being sexually assaulted in front of her young children while walking down the street in broad daylight and teenage girls shouldn’t have to run from a registered sex offender exposing his male genitalia as he chases them. Thankfully the Santa Ana Police Department was able to quickly identify and arrest this predator to get him off our streets.”

Deputy District Attorney Austin Neiman of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.