Trial Starting For Immigrant in Pimping, Assault Case Of Teen

INDIO, CA – Trial proceedings are slated to get underway today for a 74-year-old Chinese immigrant accused of raping a teenage prostitute and attempting to lure a Blythe middle school student into his car.

Jeff Hsieh is charged with three counts of forcible rape and one count each of human trafficking of a minor, inducing a minor to engage in prostitution, procuring a person for prostitution, pandering, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation with a person under 18, stalking and child annoyance.

Pretrial motions are expected today, with jury selection, marking the start of the trial, slated to begin Tuesday following the holiday weekend.

At a preliminary hearing in December, the defendant, speaking through a Mandarin translator, told a judge: "Everything (alleged by the prosecution) was made up. Everything is fabricated.''

Sheriff's Investigator Sgt. Julio Oseguera testified that a 15-year-old girl alleged she met Hsieh while working as a prostitute in the Blythe area and ultimately moved in with him for about three weeks in June 2015.

The girl alleged she repeatedly had sex with Hsieh in exchange for cash, heroin, methamphetamine and the use of a Mercedes-Benz SUV, Oseguera testified.

The girl told detectives that on several occasions she refused to have sex, and Hsieh forced himself on her, then paid her extra. Hsieh also allegedly took her to Indio and San Diego, where he paid for a hotel room and waited as she engaged in prostitution with other customers.

He would then allegedly take her shopping as a reward, according to Oseguera.

In a separate but related case, the deputy testified that a 13-year-old victim was discovered after investigators learned of a Facebook posting by a Blythe neighborhood watch association, warning the public to beware of a man trying to lure children into his car.

The posting featured a photograph of Hsieh's white Lexus. The alleged victim, identified only as an area middle school girl, was able to get away unharmed. Hsieh was arrested Oct. 1 at a residence in the 18000 block of Maple Drive, in an unincorporated community near Blythe.

• Also see: Standoff Ends In French Valley; Suspect Arrested [UPDATE]

Previous coverage:

• BREAKING: Blythe Man, 73, Suspected of Luring Kids Freed, Arrested Again
• Blythe Man Suspected of Luring Kids to Be Freed, Albeit Briefly
• Blythe Man Arrested For Allegedly Trying to Lure Children

--City News Service/Photo courtesy of the Riverside Sheriff’s Department