The teens knew the suspect for several months.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Two developmentally disabled Malibu teenage twins whose disappearance last week on Sunday sparked nationwide interest were found last Thursday at a man’s Los Angeles home. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials say the girls have known the man, 23-year-old Alejandro Mora, for “several months” and went with him voluntarily.
Mora has been charged with felony counts of child stealing, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation with a person under 18 and a misdemeanor count of tattooing a person under 18. He could face five years in state prison if convicted of all charges, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He appeared in Van Nuys Superior Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty on all charges. A preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial will take place Aug. 28.
No bail was set for Mora and he remains in the county jail. He could not be reached for comment.
Although two girls were involved in the case, the District Attorney’s Office has determined there is one victim, and would not specify which of the two girls it is. Deputy District Attorney Liliana Gonzalez declined to discuss the issue when asked by The Malibu Times on Tuesday.
Sgt. Dan Scott from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau said that Mary and Morgan Corrodi, 16, were found “through good-old detective work.” He said, based on interviews with the girls and others, it was determined the girls had voluntarily left their home with Mora and this was not their first encounter with him.
“They knew the man for several months,” he said. “We don’t know exactly how long. They were acquaintances.” Scott said the girls met him “at the beach.”
A neighbor had reported seeing the girls enter a vehicle at their Malibu home on the day they went missing.
After the girls were found last week, detectives from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station interviewed them.
“Once there was disclosure there was sexual abuse, the investigation turned over to us,” Scott said.
Detectives from the Special Victims Bureau and the District Attorney’s Office interviewed the girls on Friday, and further interviews were conducted during the weekend. Charges were filed Monday morning.
The case has received a great deal of regional media and some national media attention, including from cable news channels and various Web sites, since Jack and Kay Corrodi reported their daughters missing on Aug. 10. Photos of the girls were posted throughout the city and the pictures appeared on numerous Web sites.
Jack Corrodi told The Malibu Times last week that his daughters had lied to him, telling him they were going to a Malibu Boys & Girls Club event at the beach. He told other media this was not the first time they had run away, but it was the longest they had been missing.
“They tend to try to act older than they really are,” Corrodi told The Times last week. “They look 18 or 20, but act like they’re 12.”
The girls are in the special education program at Malibu High School.
The Corrodis could not be reached for further comment, but Jack Corrodi did leave a voice mail message with The Times praising the media coverage for leading to his daughters’ return.
The girls are two of the Corrodis’ 16 adopted children ranging from ages 8 to 35.