Los Angeles resident Alejandro Mora has been charged with three felony counts and one misdemeanor for his alleged involvement in the disappearance of two developmentally disabled Malibu teenage twins. Mora, 23, appeared in Van Nuys Superior Court on Monday. He pleaded not guilty on all counts. A preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial will take place on Aug. 28.
Mora is charged with child stealing, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation with a person under 18 and a misdemeanor of tattooing a person under 18. Mora could face five years in state prison if convicted on all counts, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
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 it would not specify which of the two girls it is. Deputy District Attorney Liliana Gonzalez declined to discuss this issue when asked by The Malibu Times.
Mora was arrested on Thursday when Mary and Morgan Corrodi, 16, were found at his home. The girls had been missing since the previous Sunday. Sgt. Dan Scott from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau said the girls were found “through good-old detective work.”
Scott 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.” He said they met him “at the beach.”
A neighbor had reported seeing the girls enter a vehicle on the day they went missing.
After the girls were found on Thursday, 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.
This case 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. Pictures 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.
Jack and Kay Corrodi could not be reached for comment for an extended interview, but Jack Corrodi did leave a voicemail 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.