San Luis Obispo Police arrest Pablo Reyna-Esparza for 22 counts of sexual abuse of children
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Police arrested Pablo Reyna-Esparza, 78, former San Luis Obispo resident, on twenty two counts of sexual abuse of four juvenile females, according to the SLO Police Department.
The department said Reyna-Esparza fled to Mexico in May of 2018 after denying the first allegations, and on May 8, 2023, officials arrested the 78-year-old as he crossed the southern border from Mexico back into California.
In 2018, police said a juvenile girl reported that in 2016 Reyna-Esparza sexually abused her when she was 10 years old in an unlicensed day-care center in the 1200 block of Coral in San Luis Obispo.
It was during this investigation that Reyna-Esparza denied the allegations, and disappeared to Mexico.
SLOPD said at that time, there was not enough "corroborating evidence to obtain a criminal filing against Reyna-Esparza."
In March of 2022, police said two more young girls reported Reyna-Esparza sexually abused them in 2016 when they were in daycare at the same house. They were five and 10 years old at the time.
Further investigation led detectives to find another victim, an 11-year-old girl, who Reyna-Esparza also sexually abused in 2016.
With the combined statements of these four juveniles, SLOPD said felony arrest warrants were issued for Reyna-Esparza after the station requested criminal filings of the sexual abuse charges.
The department said it's holding Reyna-Esparza in SLO County Jail for 22 felony counts of sexual abuse, with a bail set at $12,600,000.
SLOPD asked that anyone with information regarding this investigation reach out to Detective Caleb McCornack at 805-783-7757 as there may be additional victims.
