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Day Care Worker Convicted of Molesting Two Boys

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A day care worker in Orange County, who worked in an after school program for six years, was convicted of molesting two boys during "movie time" while he was working in Saddleback Valley Unified School.

Scott Andrew Christensen, 28, wept when he heard the verdict ready today, according to a City News Service. He faces 55 years in prison and he will be sentenced in June.

This isn't the first conviction for Christensen. He had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old boy that he was babysitting. Previous juries deadlocked on whether he molested a second 6-year-old boy at day care, but in the course of re-filing the allegations against Christensen the Orange County District Attorney's Office found a third victim, according to the OC Weekly.

One of the boys is now 17 and lives in Ohio. He first told his sister about what Christensen did to him during "movie time" as a 6-year-old when she asked him if he was a virgin and he didn't know how to answer, CNS reported. He returned to Orange County to testify against Christensen. The parents of the second victim did not want their son back on the stand, but his previous testimony was read during the trial.

Christensen was convicted of three felony counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14, and because of his previous conviction he could face an even longer sentence.

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