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Trial Underway For Valencia Sex Offender Accused Of Child Annoyance

Trial is underway Wednesday in the case of a Valencia man facing life due to child annoyance charges.


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Jury selection started today for Yale Yurman, 71, a registered sex offender arrested for child annoyance allegations at three different locations in the Santa Clarita Valley, according to officials.Jury selection started today for Yale Yurman, 71, a registered sex offender arrested for child annoyance allegations at three different locations in the Santa Clarita Valley, according to officials.  Testimony is expected to begin Friday, officials said. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Testimony is expected to begin Friday, officials said. He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Yurman has been in custody for more than a year, after he allegedly walked around the Santa Clarita Valley videotaping children without permission.

Related: Valencia Man Still Behind Bars On Child Annoyance Charges

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detectives were alerted to Yurman’s activities last June by Target loss-prevention officers, who received a report from customers and contacted deputies with their information.

Deputies were told a man was following a young girl and videotaping her while she was walking around inside Target located on Magic Mountain Parkway in Valencia in June.

Through proactive work by Target’s loss prevention, detectives were able to identify a suspect, Dubin said.

Detectives served a search warrant in the 23700 block of Hickory Court in Valencia. Residents of the Belcaro housing community in that neighborhood contacted KHTS over concerns with Yurman’s alleged behavior.

Yurman has several known aliases, according to the Megan’s Law website, which include Steve Simonian, Dale Orin Pettit and Joseph Abendana.

He has several convictions listed on the Megan’s Law site, including annoying/molesting a child under the age of 18, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age by force or fear and oral copulation with a minor under 14 years of age by use of force or fear.

Evidence was recovered which showed the suspect had been following young girls and videotaping them on several occasions.

These locations were identified as Target, Walmart and the Real Life Church in Valencia.

A map of Santa Clarita Valley sex offenders

Another location was the Santa Monica pier, according to a Sheriff’s Station news release.

California’s Megan’s Law provides the public with certain information on the whereabouts of sex offenders so that members of our local communities may protect themselves and their children.

The law is not intended to punish the registrant and specifically prohibits using the information to harass or commit any crime against a registrant.

Yurman is currently being held at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $1 million bail.


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Trial Underway For Valencia Sex Offender Accused Of Child Annoyance

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.