Child-Stalking Suspect Charged With Rape, Human Trafficking

A 73-year-old Blythe man charged with trying to lure children into his car near a school bus stop is now faces additional charges of rape, child molestation, facilitating prostitution and human trafficking.

Jeff Hsieh pleaded not guilty Oct. 7 to one felony count of stalking and one misdemeanor count of child annoyance and was subsequently charged with eight felonies and a misdemeanor.

The new complaint, filed last Wednesday, charges Hsieh with three counts of rape and one count each of inducing a minor to engage in prostitution, procuring a person for prostitution, pandering, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and oral copulation with a person under 18.

He pleaded not guilty to those charges on Thursday.

A court-appointed lawyer who represented him Monday during a scheduled bail hearing that was postponed said Hsieh would be assigned an attorney of record in time for his next court appearance -- a felony settlement conference scheduled for Nov. 4.

Hsieh -- who speaks mandarin Chinese -- was also flanked by a court translator.

After the initial charges were filed, authorities said Hsieh was under investigation for allegedly raping a child and arranging sham marriages between Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens.

He’s been held in lieu of $1 million since being arrested Oct. 1 in the 18000 block of Maple Drive in an unincorporated community near Blythe.

Sheriff’s officials launched an investigation in May after receiving reports that a man driving a white sedan tried to entice children into his car near a bus stop in the Palo Verde Valley, Sgt. Julio Oseguera said.

Hsieh allegedly stopped his car near the bus stop on two separate occasions and tried to lure children into the vehicle. In both cases, the children ran away and reported the encounters, Oseguera said.

In a declaration filed by authorities seeking higher-than-normal bail, investigators said Hsieh was the subject of a probe “for rape of a juvenile and human trafficking” and was a flight risk.

In a separate filing, authorities requested that a court hearing be held before Hsieh could be released on bail, citing the human trafficking probe and concerns that such funds could be the product of criminal activity.

“The information revealed Hsieh was involved in obtaining fraudulent visas by falsely marrying women from China with United States citizens,” investigators alleged. “Hsieh was compensated for ... facilitating and arranging this criminal activity.”

Hsieh is being held at the Riverside County jail in Indio.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of the Riverside Sheriff’s Department