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View Winners → Crime Apr 18, 2022
Joshua Alexander Clever, 39, was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Costa Mesa. | Photo Courtesy of the Costa Mesa Police Department.
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A youth soccer coach was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and possessing child pornography on his phone.
Joshua Alexander Clever, 39, of Santa Ana, was charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a minor younger than 14, a count of oral copulation of a child younger than 14, five counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15, a count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of a victim younger than 16, a count of oral copulation of a child younger than 16, a count of unlawful sexual intercourse and a count of possession or control of child pornography, all felonies.
Clever was arrested April 7 and booked on suspicion of statutory rape of the victim, whom he met through his coaching job, but he posted $100,000 bail and was released April 8, according to Roxi Fyad of the Costa Mesa Police Department.
Police subsequently acquired data from his cell phone that indicated he had pornographic images of teenage girls on his cell phone, so Clever was arrested again on Thursday, Fyad said. He was being held without bail, according to jail records.
Police suspect Clever was “grooming” the teenage victim over a six-month period, and the victim’s parents came forward to police on April 7, Fyad said. Investigators also suspect there may be more victims.
Anyone who may have information relevant to investigators was asked to contact Detective Alicia Defuria at 714-754-5364 or adefuria@costamesaca.gov; or call Sgt. Jose Morales at 714-754-4933.
