City worker linked to 47 children

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- A city recreation coordinator suspected of engaging

in lewd conduct with children may have inappropriately touched at least

47 children who attended various city programs, officials said Thursday.

Police arrested Trenton Michael Veches, 31, on April 17 after a

co-worker reported the alleged criminal activity, police said.

Investigators have determined that Veches behaved inappropriately with

at least 47 children. They came to that conclusion after sorting through

hundreds of images recovered from Veches’ computer and digital camera,

said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman.

The victims, all boys between ages 6 and 10, were positively

identified by their parents, he said. The photos showed Veches sucking

the children’s toes.

“A lot of images detectives looked through had nothing to do with the

[alleged] incidents,” Shulman said.

There could still be several other victims who were not in any of the

photographs, he said.

“We believe these incidents had been going on over the last two

years,” Shulman said.

A preliminary hearing on the case is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at

Harbor Justice Center.

The city is trying to do its best to allay parents’ fears and address

their concerns, City Manager Homer Bludau said.

City officials sent out invitations to all parents who have had their

children in either after-school or summer programs supervised by Veches

over the last two years, asking them to attend a meeting at City Hall on

Thursday night.

“We’ve sent out invitations to about 900 households,” Bludau said.

However, the city decided the meeting would not be open to the public

“for various reasons,” he said.

“We weren’t sure how many parents would attend,” Bludau said. “So we

wanted to make sure there’s enough room for all parents.”

Also, the information here is of a private and sensitive nature, he

said.

“All we’re trying to do here is reach out to the parents and the

kids,” Bludau said.

He said the city has received several responses about the issue over

the last few days.

“Several parents called and said they’re concerned we may shut down

the after-school programs, which they feel are really good programs,”

Bludau said. “We’ve not been inundated with calls. But there have been

some mixed reactions.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .