A mid-February sentencing date was set for a Los Angeles man who has been prosecuted 10 times for groping women and girls on Metro buses and other public-transportation lines.
In his latest case, Ager Linder pleaded no contest to two counts of child molestation, three counts of sexual battery and one count of battery on a public transportation passenger for groping five women and three girls, ages 15 to 27, on eight occasions while riding Metro buses through the Mid-City area between May and August, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The 26-year-old man would often pretend to be asleep and then grab a victim, according to prosecutors.
Linder was previously convicted on nine prior occasions, as recently as January of this year, for conduct related to groping on public transportation.
He is currently on probation from the conviction in January for victimizing at least four women while riding the Metro Red Line: Linder would approach the victims and grab their breasts, buttocks or other body parts, Deputy City Attorney Brad Rothenberg said.
Linder’s prior convictions involved groping female bus riders in North Hollywood, Hollywood, Mid-City, Culver City, Norwalk, West Los Angeles and Long Beach.
At Linder’s Feb. 19 sentencing, the City Attorney’s Office will seek 54 months of formal probation and one year in county jail, followed by one year of residential mental-health counseling, along with mandatory sex-offender registration and a stay-away order from all public transportation.
“Passengers on our public transit systems must be safe,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said. “The defendant’s actions are outrageous and deplorable. We will do everything we can to hold him accountable and protect transit riders.”
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News