A man has been charged with several counts of child abuse, after allegedly torturing a child, sexually assaulting a 14-year-old and abusing two other children.
Douglas Alba, 40, of Cypress, faces one felony count of torture, one felony count of child abuse and endangerment, and four felony counts of a corporal injury to a child.
He was also charged with two felony counts of sodomy by force of a child 14 years or older, two felony counts of sexual penetration of a child 14 years old by a foreign object by force, one felony count of attempted forcible oral copulation of a child 14 years or older and two felony counts of a lewd and lascivious act on a child 14 or 15 years old, officials said.
Alba allegedly abused the children for nearly a year, though authorities did not disclose the relationship between the defendant and the victims.
The abuse was discovered by authorities when a 10-year-old child was taken to a hospital last month with black eyes, brain bleeding and bruising all over his or her body.
Alba was soon arrested by the Cypress Police Department and is being held on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 24 and faces a maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges.
“The scars of child abuse go far beyond the physical,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “The psychological and emotional trauma these children were forced to endure shocks the conscience.”
Officials did not release any additional information about the defendant, the victims or the investigation.