A man who works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested by the Irvine Police Department on Wednesday for allegedly molesting three young girls beginning in 2011.
Irvine resident Terry Edward Keegan, 59, faces three felony charges for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, a felony count of the continuous sexual abuse of a child, a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child under 18 and a misdemeanor charge of touching an intimate part of another person, according to a release from the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Authorities allege the molestation began in 2011, when Keegan molested an 8-year-old girl who lived next door to the home he shared with his girlfriend and another young girl.
Keegan also molested the girl who lived with him and his girlfriend, as well a third girl who lived next door to Keegan and his family after they moved into a new home in 2015, the District Attorney’s office said.
“The innocence of children should not be ripped away from them by some monster living next door or even in their own home,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. “The only monsters in children’s lives should be the ones in bedtime stories and movies, not a living, breathing predator who became the stuff of real-life nightmares for three young girls.”
“The victims in this case showed tremendous courage,” Irvine Police Chief Michael Kent added in the release. “We are hopeful the arrest of this predator brings them some comfort and reassurance.”
Keegan is being held at the Theo Lacy Facility on $1 million bail, jail records show. The Theo Lacy Facility is a maximum-security jail complex, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s website.
Keegan is due to be arraigned on Feb. 8 at the Central Jail Court, according to the release and jail records.
If convicted on all counts, Keegan could be sentenced to 100 years to life in prison, the District Attorney’s office said.