A former California cheerleading coach has been charged with molesting six girls as young as 11 years old.
Erick Joseph Kristianson, 44, previously coached cheerleading at Orange County cheer club and Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo.
Kristianson also faces charges of child molestation and child exhibition in Florida related to four young girls he coached in Daytona Beach.
The coach was arrested last week in Fargo, North Dakota, for the charges in Orange County.
According to a report from Fox News, Kristianson is facing seven felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14, five felony counts of a lewd act upon a child age 14 or 15, two felony counts of sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor under 18, one felony count of sexual penetration by a foreign objection of a minor under 16 and one felony count of oral copulation of a person under 16 years old.
“Kristianson worked as a competitive cheerleading coach at Magic All-Stars from 2002 to 2008 and as an assistant cheer coach at Trabuco Hills High School in 2005, where he is accused of gaining access to six young girls that he molested in Orange County,” the report explained. “Those allegations came to light in 2022 after he was arrested in Daytona Beach, Florida, on suspicion of masturbating on camera to three children between the ages of 11 and 13 and touching the breasts of another 13-year-old girl.”
The report added, “He is also accused of molesting five other Orange County girls he coached between 2002 and 2007, often taking some of the girls to off-campus events and to his home where he would molest them. The girls ranged in age from 11 to 16 years old.”
Following his arrest, another woman contacted law enforcement and said that he molested her beginning when she was 14 years old and he was her cheer coach.
Last year, Kristianson was extradited from Kansas to Florida over charges that he exposed himself to three teenage girls in a video call. He was released on a $300,000 bond.
Kristianson is facing a maximum sentence of 105 years to life, plus five years and four months if convicted on all charges.
Kristianson is now being held in the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange without bond.
“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 a statement. “Thankfully, he is in custody and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will do everything it can to ensure he is held accountable for assaulting these young girls who thought they could trust him.”
The district attorney’s office believes there may be additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to call Orange County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Austin Jones at 714- 647-4016.
