Crime & Safety

Tatoo Artist Gets 10 Years for Molesting 14-Year-Old

The Mission Viejo man plead guilty to multiple felonies. He was arrested in Dana Point last year.

A 30-year-old tattoo artist from Mission Viejo pleaded guilty today and was immediately sentenced to 10 years in prison for statutory rape, molesting a 14-year-old girl and multiple other felonies, according to court records.

Edder Giovani Nieves-Vera was arrested in January 2013 at the Dana Point Harbor by the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force, which consists of federal and Orange County law enforcement agencies.

The parents of a 14-year-old girl called Orange County sheriff's deputies on Dec. 21, 2012, reporting a man contacted their daughter via Facebook, offering her a free tattoo, drugs and alcohol, according to Orange County sheriff's investigators.

Find out what's happening in Mission Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The girl and her friend, also 14, met with Nieves-Vera on Dec. 15, 2012 at his home in Mission Viejo, where he offered them drugs and gave them alcohol and tattoos, according to sheriff's investigators.

Undercover investigators posing as a 14-year-old girl started an online dialogue with Nieves-Vera in January 2013. When he showed up for a meeting that month at the Dana Point Harbor with the girl to finish her tattoo, investigators handcuffed him.

Find out what's happening in Mission Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nieves-Vera pleaded guilty to three counts of meeting a minor to commit lewd conduct and one count each of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15, child annoyance, luring a child with intent to commit a specified crime, annoying or molesting a child younger than 18 with a specified prior conviction, inducing a minor to buy or sell a controlled substance, statutory rape, soliciting a minor to buy or sell a controlled substance, exhibition of lewd materials to a minor, possession or control of child pornography and forgery of public or corporate seals, all felonies.

Nieves-Vera also pleaded guilty to 17 misdemeanor counts of tattooing a minor.

Nieves-Vera was arrested by Murrieta police in 2004 for child annoyance and having false identifying documents, according to sheriff's investigators. In that case he drove up to a 14-year-old girl walking to school, offering to give her a ride, touch her and take her photo, according to sheriff's investigators.

Nieves-Vera was sentenced to three years in prison in that case and then
was deported.

--City News Service


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.