Couple Accused Of Sexually Abusing Their Kids For Years

RIVERSIDE, CA — A Riverside woman accused of sexually abusing her two stepchildren for years, and aiding her husband in allegedly perpetrating his own abuse, pleaded not guilty Friday to a string of felony charges.

Sabrina Lynn Hawkins, 30, was arrested earlier this month following an extensive investigation by the Riverside Police Department's Sexual Assault-Child Abuse Unit, whose detectives arrested the defendant's spouse, 34-year-old Joshua Daniel Hawkins, in November at the outset of the same investigation.

Sabrina Hawkins is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, six counts of forced intercourse with a minor, as well as four counts each of lewd acts on a child and acting in concert with another to perpetrate a child sex offense.

She was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gail O'Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for May 18 at the Riverside Hall of Justice and left her bail set at $2 million.

The defendant is being held at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

Joshua Hawkins is being held on the same bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta. He pleaded not guilty on Nov. 30 to 26 child sexual assault-related charges and is due in court again on March 4.

According to Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, detectives received information in early November pointing to suspected assaults on two children, identified in court documents only as "K.H." and "J.H.," in the Orangecrest area of the city.

Railsback said it was uncovered that Joshua Hawkins allegedly had engaged in "ongoing sexual abuse of (his) teenage daughter."

"During their investigation, detectives learned of additional sexual abuse taking place against the victim's male sibling, by their stepmother (Sabrina Hawkins)," the police spokesman said.

Court documents indicate that the alleged assaults began in 2014 and continued into the fall of 2021. The circumstances behind the alleged abuse and how the activity was ultimately revealed to authorities were not disclosed.

"The (defendants) have been involved in community and school activities in and around the neighborhood where they lived," Railsback said, asking anyone who may have information relevant to the investigation to come forward.

Neither defendant has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County. If convicted, both face potential life prison terms.