Costa Mesa man faces child molestation allegations

A Costa Mesa man arrested on a warrant related to child molestation charges will be prosecuted in El Dorado County in Lake Tahoe, Costa Mesa police said Thursday.

Costa Mesa police arrested Keith Hoover, 45, on Wednesday outside his apartment on West 19th Street on suspicion of sexual contact with a child, Costa Mesa police Sgt. Marty Carver said.

The victim, a boy formerly of Laguna Niguel who now lives in South Lake Tahoe, told authorities in early December that Hoover had molested him, Lt. Marc Adams of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s department said. The boy, who is under 10, heard a presentation on abuse at his school from a local women’s center representative and afterward he told the speaker how a family friend had been molesting him for five years, Adams said.

The boy told authorities he had been molested in Laguna Niguel and in Lake Tahoe.