Yucca Valley man arrested for suspected elder abuse, additional unrelated sexual abuse charges added
A man initially arrested for investigation into elder abuse was convicted in court this week on separate charges related to the sexual abuse of a young child.
On March 12, 2024, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Jose Gonzalez, then a 48 year-old resident of Yucca Valley. Deputies say Gonzalez was employed as a caregiver, and threatened to murder his elderly client and roommate. Deputies say that Gonzalez was a convicted felon, and found to be in possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.
Gonzalez was booked into the West Valley Detention Center, where he has been held since his arrest in 2024. During his incarceration, Gonzalez was identified as a suspect in the sexual abuse of a child. The abuse occurred in July of 2021.
Jose Gonzalez was put on trial for the sexual abuse charges this week in San Bernardino County’s Joshua Tree courthouse. On Wednesday (June 3), Gonzalez was found guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and one count of felony stalking. He was acquitted on charges of raping a child 10 years or younger.
San Bernardino County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Douglas Poston said that Gonzalez “remains in custody, and faces over sixteen years in prison on the child sexual assault case.”
Jose Gonzalez will return to court later this year to face charges in the elder abuse incident.
