A former high school cheerleading coach in Mission Viejo has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies on suspicion of molesting six girls between 11 and 16 years old from 2002 to 2006, authorities said Wednesday.
The 44-year-old man, Erick Kristianson, now a resident of Antioch, Tenn., was arrested last week in Fargo, N.D., on a felony warrant tied to the Orange County case. He faces 16 felony counts, including seven felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.
“This was not a predator hiding in the shadows waiting to grab innocent girls. He was hiding in plain sight as he assaulted girl after girl, thinking he would never be caught because they trusted him as a coach,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement. From 2002 to 2008, Kristianson worked as a competitive cheerleading coach at Magic All-Stars and assistant cheer coach at Trabuco Hills High School in 2005, where he was accused of gaining access to the six young female athletes he is accused of molesting, officials said.