Federal Charges to Be Filed Against Accused Laguna Beach Molester

An Orange County prosecutor today moved to dismiss child pornography charges against a Laguna Beach man accused of touching a young boy in a restroom at the Block shopping center in Orange, because federal authorities plan to prosecute the man on the pornography allegations, which would carry a stiffer penalty than the state charges.

Nicholas James Needham, 27, was charged in October with a felony count of lewd acts on a child under 14 and possession of child pornography, but Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez moved to have the child pornography count dismissed so Needham could face the same charges in federal court.

"This just helps us maximize the potential sentence,'' Rodriguez told City News Service, adding that Needham faced a maximum of eight months in state prison if convicted of possession of child pornography. Dropping the child pornography possession charge in state court will not affect the case against him for allegedly touching the boy at the shopping center, Rodriguez said.

Needham, a registered sex offender, is due back in Orange County Superior Court on March 25 for a pretrial hearing. He is accused of touching the genitals of a 5-year-old boy who was going to the bathroom at the Block on June 15, Rodriguez said. The boy told his mother, who saw the suspect and called police, but by the time the officers arrived, Needham had left the area. After reviewing store surveillance video, investigators determined the suspect had bought something at a Jamba Juice store and traced the credit card transaction back to Needham, who was arrested, Rodriguez said. Police searched Needham's home in July and found about 29,000 photographs and three videos of alleged child pornography on the defendant's iPod, some of which investigators believe he may have made, Rodriguez said.

At least one video was taken at Main Beach in Laguna Beach, and the youngsters ranged in age from "young teenagers all the way down to infants,'' Rodriguez said.

Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Orange Police Detective Leslie Franco at (714) 744-7572 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Randy Litwin at (714) 347-8794.

— City News Service