Rancho Cucamonga resident Jose Eduardo Estrada, 34, is accused of sexual assaulting a 13-year-old boy. Estrada is an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army.
"Right now we're in the investigation process so we haven't really got much of the details on the case yet. So right now he's an active AGR [Active Guard Reserve] soldier with us," said U.S. Army Sgt. Alec Appleton. Appleton said Estrada is a trainer at an Army recruitment center in Upland.
Appleton said people at the recruitment center are understandably shocked to hear that one of their own is accused of meeting a teenager in an online chat room, meeting him and then sodomizing him.
"We never thought that something like this would happen, so right now it's kind of surprising to us all," said Appleton.
After meeting in the chat room and exchanging phone numbers, Estrada told the boy to come to his apartment complex, where the alleged sex acts occurred.
"The incident was reported to Rancho Cucamonga Police and the detectives arrested Jose Estrada on Monday at his home," said Cindy Bachman, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. spokeswoman.
Police released Estrada's booking photo due to concerns there might be other potential victims.
"He has lived in other states, and they are concerned that there could be other minors out there who were victimized by him," said Bachman.
Estrada was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sodomy with a person under 18 years of age. He was held at West Valley Detention Center on $750,000 bond.
If you have information related to this case, call Rancho Cucamonga Police at (909) 477-2800.
